A resurgent Port Adelaide have inflicted more pain on an under-fire North Melbourne with a 69-point AFL win at Blundstone Arena in Hobart.
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Despite missing skipper Tom Jonas in defence due to health and safety protocols, the Power pocketed their fourth straight victory on the back of a six-goal-to-one first quarter.
Tall forwards Mitch Georgiades (three goals), Todd Marshall (three) and Jeremy Finlayson (two) did the damage in the 17.13 (115) to 6.10 (46) result on Saturday.
The Power are on the fringe of the top eight after a horror 0-5 start to the season.
"(We've been) incredibly resilient, by how we've stuck at it," coach Ken Hinkley said.
"We believed we could still turn things around. We're certainly not solved but we're better than we were.
"We didn't get distracted by the ladder, which was hard not to because it said zero and five."
Port Adelaide midfielder and stand-in skipper Ollie Wines was outstanding, picking up a game-high 32 touches, two goals, nine clearances and two goal assists.
"The key message from me to (Ollie) was ... a really critical piece of being a good captain is playing well. He led really well," Hinkley said.
Port Adelaide were dragged into a dogfight in the second and third quarters before pulling away with a run of five goals early in the final term.
The Kangaroos have slumped to their seventh loss in a row after a week of intense scrutiny.
It was revealed coach David Noble issued an apology to his players for delivering a stern post-match address after their heavy 108-point loss to Brisbane in round three.
North Melbourne copped a big blow pre-game, with midfield gun Jy Simpkin ruled out late with a hamstring problem.
Noble said Simpkin picked up a bit of soreness on Friday and would be assessed further on Sunday.
"I'm not even sure if it's actually a hamstring, might be a bit more back-related," he said.
Port Adelaide dominated contested possession and raced to a 41-9 lead at quarter-time.
North Melbourne won the second quarter 16-15 and could have been in a better position on the scoreboard if not for simple misses by Jaidyn Stephenson and Tarryn Thomas in front of goal.
Cameron Zurhaar was a bright spark for the Kangaroos, with three majors for the match, including a brace in a tightly fought third quarter in which both sides kicked two goals.
"We had 12, 13 blokes going through the midfield so some terrific experience for those guys through the centre bounce," Noble said.
"You've got to take your chances early, it should have been a bit closer at quarter time."
Port Adelaide play Geelong on the road next round, while North Melbourne face a massive challenge against undefeated reigning premiers Melbourne.
Australian Associated Press
