HAMISH Hartlett is all but certain to miss next Saturday's Showdown against Adelaide after hurting his quad in Port Adelaide's thumping of Gold Coast.

Hartlett was the major concern coming out of the 47-point victory after limping off in the third quarter, while Brad Ebert is also questionable to face the Crows.

POWER OUTCLASS SUNS Full match coverage and stats

"Hammer (Hartlett) looks like he's got a bit of a quad, so he'll more likely miss than play," coach Ken Hinkley said following the win.

"Brad hurt his knee, he went back out there though, and he'll be assessed through the week. 

"We'll take no chances if he's not right, it's a long season."

It was the only blight on an otherwise excellent first-up performance from Port.

Hinkley was delighted, but not surprised by Port's form after winning pre-season matches against 2019 finalists Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs.

"We played really good footy through the pre-season and it was good for the boys to back it," he said.

"It was a pretty good performance, albeit our completion in the second half (1.10), we've got a bit to work on."

One area that needs little work is the centre square combination, with ruckman Scott Lycett providing a great contest that Travis Boak, Tom Rockliff and company cashed in on.

LATEST NEWS All your COVID-19 updates here

Port led the centre clearance count 10-3 in the decisive first-half, with three of the takeaways leading directly to goals.

"Our ability to use the ball in tight has never been underestimated by us. 

"You've got Boak and Rockliff and (Dan) Houston are good enough players and (Connor) Rozee, Powell-Pepper, Ebert, (Robbie) Gray, there's some good players in there."

On the other side of the fence, Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew did not mince words, saying his team was lucky to not lose by more.

"I think we dodged a bullet margin-wise," Dew said.

"Some of our more senior players were not combative enough. 

"We’ll have a look at that and make sure that doesn’t happen again.

"At different times, there were some passages where guys in their first game were putting their head over the ball and showing the way.

"But we are not going to win games of footy if we are relying on that."