Travis Cloke (four goals) and Leon Davis (28 possessions) were superb for the Magpies, but it was young guns John Anthony (two goals) and Chris Dawes who drew extra praise from the Magpies chief.
“Leon was terrific. He’s been terrific the last couple of weeks,” Malthouse said after the match. “He’s just starting to get over his ankle injury … He was what we needed today – that sort of finishing off power around the ground.
“I was particularly pleased with Chris Dawes – and Travis, Travis was fantastic.
“Given we’ve lost Rusling, Rocca, Reid and Dick – and we’ve elected not to play Didak – there’s four that would generally be part of our forward line, so we’ve had to reinvent the forward line.
“Jack Anthony – who we’d trained up as a key back – came in and he’s kicked goals every game he’s played.
“And Chris Dawes, for his second game … he actually gives Travis a little bit of leeway.
“The thing today about Chris Dawes was he’s highly competitive, didn’t go to ground, and was also another target. So he helps.”
But Malthouse was not getting carried away with his side’s 11th victory of the season.
“Under the circumstances, with a couple of blokes who couldn’t go back on the ground … and given we’ve still got a very, very young side, if there’s a ‘W’ next to your name at round 20 you take it,” he said.
Malthouse praised the effort of Port’s acting skipper Shaun Burgoyne, who gathered 33 possessions and an astounding 18 clearances.
“He was outstanding, there’s no question about that. Any player that has seven centre clearances by half time is giving you some trouble.
"It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen until half time.
As for whether another win would be enough to secure finals action, Malthouse was at his prickly best.
“I’ve no idea. It’s round 20. It may not be anywhere near enough, it may well be enough. The ladder is so insignificant. It’s round 22 you look at it and go that’s where we finished.
“How would I know more than anyone else? I’m just a mere coach. All I do is look at the game next week – I don’t worry about how many wins we’ve got and how many we haven’t got. I’ve got no idea if it’s enough, and what’s it mean anyway? It’s the furthest thing from my mind because I can’t control it.
“I’ve had some say tonight, but I’ve got no say tomorrow on the four games played or the three on Sunday. That will shape the ladder and then you can guess yourselves."
