HE HELD Collingwood's Travis Cloke goalless for 104 of the 107 minutes he manned him, but there was no way Port Adelaide defender Alipate Carlile was going to take the credit for stopping the game-breaker.
Not only was Cloke held to a 10-possession, one-goal game but the League leader in contested marks failed to take one for only the second time this year.
Without Ben Reid in the forward line, the Magpies looked one-dimensional moving forward, which only made Carlile's job on Cloke all the more significant.
It was a hugely impressive defensive display, but the 26-year-old was quick to point out it was far from a solo effort.
"We were all told that team defence was going to win the game and that's something we've focused on since Kenny's been at the club," Carlile told AFL.com.au in the Power's rooms after their 35-point win.
"That's exactly what they did – put pressure on up the field.
"I had boys dropping back, helping me out the whole day which was unbelievable by them.
"Matthew Broadbent, Jackson Trengove, Jasper Pittard all did that throughout the day."
Carlile admitted it was a daunting task facing the game's most prolific contested marker.
The recipe behind his success on Saturday was to keep with him on every lead, every turn, every contest - and hope others helped out.
"He's a superstar of the game and you can't keep him out of the game the whole time," he said of Cloke.
"He got away from me a couple of times but to the boys' credit they helped and supported me really well.
"I was just focused on quick foot movement, especially early and then let the other boys drop back in front."
The Power's win over the Magpies backed up the previous round's upset victory over the Sydney Swans and announced Port as a genuine finals threat.
A month of mayhem featuring games against four of the competition's best sides is fast turning into a defining period for the Power, although with Essendon and Hawthorn still to come, things can change quickly.
Carlile believes that if he and his teammates bring the same defensive intensity as they did against the Swans and Magpies, anything was possible.
"We're just concentrating on what we can control and that's effort and intensity cross the board," he said.
"It starts with our defending; the whole 22 have to buy in to the defence and if you don't do that you're out of the team.
"The boys have got massive belief in what Ken (Hinkley) and the other coaches have brought to the club in their structures and the game plan, so we'll just keep going with our training as we have been.
"If we keep up the intensity across the board the weekends will take care of themselves."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
