Power coach Mark Williams was proud of the fighting spirit the team showed and was full of praise for the players, the assistant coaches and the fitness staff after the game. Here's what he had to say to the media after the game.

It was a terrific win for us, rebounding from last week’s loss. With a young developing side you sometimes wonder about their ability to do that, but they diligently, from the meetings we had to the training we did, took it (the challenge) on and had a crack at it. That was a great response. They were tough conditions. I thought that Collingwood provided fantastic competition all day and for our guys to tough it out and believe in themselves and basically get in front for the first time in the last quarter was terrific for us. I thought it was a pretty even effort. There were a lot of tough efforts and a lot of grinding efforts and a great result. I have to really acknowledge the work that the assistant coaches did this week, it was just outstanding. They got the players’ confidence up and certainly showed them the way to beat Collingwood.

Were you happy to see it rain?

We were pleased that it did rain, because it’s good for the farmers

Was it good for Port?

No, it’s (rain) not good for Port. We're a fast team. We’d rather be running on top of the grass. It’s a situation where Collingwood play a fairly stop-start game where they want to hold or contain around the stoppages, and that's not our game, so it probably helped them more than us.

Is that a real bonus for you, the fact that you said you are a fast side, and that you can get down and get ugly and dirty and win

Yeah, I thought the nature of the grinding effort was terrific. And probably this week compared to last week we were very efficient, we went inside-50 and kicked a lot of goals, having not gone in as many times.

How about the character that the boys showed. You trailed for the best part of three quarters. Collingwood were 15-points up in the third quarter and looked to have the game in their control, but you hung in there and then ran over the top in the last quarter

Yeah, you can imagine, there’s been a lot of stories written about us and our ability at the MCG and under pressure from behind and playing Collingwood in that situation. It’s just great for the club. It's an exciting time for the club, and as much as we were disappointed with the game last week, coming back to the club and really analysing the game we realised we weren't too far away in many aspects. So (we were) finding some positive aspects out of it, and converting that to the players minds, and then taking that out on the training track, and really trying to teach, not just for this week but for our future as our game is developing. That was great for us.

Is that one of the ultimates for a coach, a tackle like Chad Cornes’s at a time like that?

Wasn’t that brilliant! Coaches can motivate players, but players have to have the will to win and the will not to give up and always keep trying. If that's part of the Port Adelaide package, and we certainly like to think it is, what a great example, and certainly one that will be up there with the Michael Wilson tackle on Sansbury in the goalsquare at Football Park a couple of years ago, that we still give a good run. I'm sure that Chad's (tackle) will get quite a good run for a long time.

Was it always your plan to play Wilson up the ground

He’s played on-ball quite a few times. He played on-ball last week, so that was our plan. We recognise how important Scott Burns is to Collingwood, so to have a strong body against Scott was really important for us.

Michael Wilson led by example all day. What did you say to the players after the game, you seemed pretty animated?

Certainly I highlighted Michael’s effort. At half time I thought he was a big part of us being in the game. I also acknowledge the straight kicking of the forwards under pressure late in the quarters. I think Mahoney and White and Shaun Burgoyne all kicked goals virtually on the siren, which was really important.

I know most of you won’t acknowledge it, but I thought Dom Cassisi was as good as any player on the ground today. I thought he was outstanding, if you watch his game. And that on the back of the fact he's just re-signed for three years, a guy who came over from Perth and took some time developing. He’s a great example for younger players on our list – we have 12 new players on our list this year – of 'do your time, learn from others, and then start to blossom'.

I thought Surjan was another terrific player playing on Davis, I thought he did a great job.

You really believe in your fitness this year. You hung in there for three quarters and then ran over them in the last quarter. Chad talked about it after the game.

Yeah again, if you look at Collingwood, they ran over North (Kangaroos), and they ran over Richmond, so to have the confidence and belief the fitness work that we’ve done was terrific for us. I know that Collingwood had a few going down wounded during the last part of the game, but believe me our blokes are along the same lines. There was a lot on the line, four points, and both of us going into the game without a full week preparation on top, so to get that win is a real bonus for us.

You’re 3 wins – 1 loss, with some winnable games coming up. Do you start mentioning the ‘f’ word?

Not at all. What we do mention is the fact of improving and developing and looking for the next thing that can help solve the puzzle for all of us, so that we can feel pretty certain as to what to do in all the different situations. The more experience we get and the more opportunity we get to develop that – you know Symes comes into the group for the first time this year was good for us – is great. I think Pearce and Motlop are a big chance to be playing next week, along with Brogan, so that will be important, because you need to freshen up the side all the time.

So is Brogan a chance to get up this week? Yes

Did you have any fresh injuries?

We’ve got a few, but you just win them and wear them. It’s a proud badge. Unfortunately it’s not Anzac day today, because it would have been a terrific scene for the Anzac day game, the way that we fought the game out.

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