SATURDAY night could easily have been a celebration of what was arguably Todd Goldstein's finest performance since his All Australian campaign four years ago.

There was still plenty of 'Goldy' love, but the presence of 10-goal hero Ben Brown at coach Rhyce Shaw's post-match press conference was evidence of who stole the headlines.

Accompanying the individual glory was an inspired North Melbourne performance that saw Shaw's men flog finals contender Port Adelaide by 86 points on a remarkable night at Marvel Stadium.

Todd Goldstein dominated in the ruck. Picture: AFL Photos

The performance followed the Kangaroos scoring just one goal, and 14 points in total, against Geelong last week.

The Power had beaten North five straight times, including three at the same venue, but was never in the contest once the latter kicked eight of the first nine goals by early in the second term.

Goldstein played an enormous role in that dominance, opposed to fellow All Australian Paddy Ryder and up-and-comer Peter Ladhams.

BROWN-OUT DAMAGES POWER Full match coverage and stats

The 31-year-old free agent finished with obscene numbers for a ruckman: a career-high 34 disposals (19 contested), 17 score involvements, nine clearances, six inside 50s and 28 hitouts.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley declared him comfortably the best player afield.

"I said to the boys before (that) I don't like to single out individuals, but they all mentioned it, anyway," Shaw told reporters of Goldstein.

WATCH Rhyce Shaw's full post-match media conference

"Goldy's first quarter was unbelievable and the way he went about it against some quality rucks (was incredible).

"He's had nine clearances himself, (including six) in the first quarter, which really set us up – but then his ability to get outside the contest and provide us with options and overlap was (great)."

Shaw said contract negotiations with Goldstein's management were ongoing, but that he hoped what will be a multi-year deal was close to being finalised.

SHOWREEL Ben's 10 turns off the Power

"We're in discussions with Todd all the time and I'm pretty sure he hasn't done himself any harm in terms of the contract now, which is not great," he said with a smile.

"Todd's been open with us, we've been open with him and we're hoping to get something done shortly."

Shaw was similarly effusive in his praise of Brown's magnificent performance, which saw him become the first player this season to kick double-digit goals.

The 26-year-old also became the first Roo to kick 10 goals since Wayne Carey did so against Essendon two decades ago.

"What I know about 'Browny' is he doesn't concentrate on that. When it's not his turn, he knows it's not his turn and he'll play a role within that," Shaw said.

"That's the key to a good forward line, and something we've got an opportunity to really build on, but 10 goals is a pretty special effort.

"It doesn't happen very often and I don't think anyone's kicked 10 this year – I think the (previous) highest was seven – so it's a superb effort and it's a full credit to Browny.

"No one works harder on his craft than Browny does, so he deserves all the rewards he can get."

Brown himself deflected the credit onto his teammates, including Goldstein, a dominant midfield that included Ben Cunnington, Shaun Higgins, Jy Simpkin and Jack Ziebell, and Nick Larkey, who kicked five goals.

He started the night trailing injured Giant Jeremy Cameron by six goals in the Coleman Medal and ended it four clear.

Brown labelled it an "exciting" and "fun" night, but taking the lead in the AFL's goalkicking table was not overly important to him.

"It's been something that's come up towards the end of the year the last couple of years but I try as much as possible not to focus on that," Brown said.

"We're trying to build something at this club and we have been the last couple of years and I think I try to do whatever I can to make sure we keep the wheels turning over in the right direction.

"Shawry's come in (as coach) and I think we've got a real opportunity to build something pretty good.

"It's disappointing we didn't make finals this year, because I think we're a team that could have made a dent in finals."

Jed Anderson and late withdrawal Paul Ahern are both dealing with hamstring tightness, but Shaw was confident star defender Robbie Tarrant would overcome an ankle complaint.