THE 16 goals Port Adelaide booted from Carlton turnovers on Friday night screamed a warning to any side with premiership aspirations – the Power are back.
Having struggled to recapture the defensive intensity that defined the club's barnstorming first half of the year, the weight of forced turnovers against a shell-shocked Blues was what Power coach Ken Hinkley had been looking for.
Hinkley was completely satisfied by the 103-point win, and loved the speed used by his side to move the ball from defence through attacking 50 as it racked up 40 scoring shots to 12.
"When we play with speed in all areas of the game, we're a pretty strong and exciting side to watch," Hinkley said.
"If you can take turnover football and play fast off it, it's really hard to defend.
"We know there's some risk involved with it, but so far we've been able to do it reasonably well most of the year.
"At the start of the year when we were up and flying and playing the footy that we like to play, we were regularly getting 70-80 points from turnovers."
Back in form and with the healthiest of injury lists – Jay Schulz returned to the field after a head knock in the final quarter – the Power now face a winner-takes-all encounter against Fremantle next weekend.
Even if the Dockers beat the Brisbane Lions this Sunday, the winner next week appears certain to claim the crucial fourth spot and double chance for the finals.
Already talking the Power down as the underdog, Hinkley described the opportunity to snatch fourth as a "free hit".
"It's a real chance, a real chance for us," he said.
"We're not silly though; I went over there and watched them play last week – I know what we're going over there to play against.
"The pressure that they're going to put on sides is something we're going to get used to … [I'm] looking forward to it, to be honest.
"For us, almost it's a free hit – everyone's saying that we're not capable of [making] the top four after the start we had and dropped off.
"We'll go over there with everything we've got and see how we go."
Hinkley insisted there was no disadvantage in playing the final home and away game of the season in Perth.
Port will have to fly back to Adelaide before either hosting an elimination final or playing away in a qualifying final.
"I don't buy into it, I think it's fine," he said.
"We traveled last week and came back and played, (so) we go over there and play next week (and) hopefully give a really strong account of ourselves. We'll be ready for the next game after that."
