Hinkley oblivious of Schulz's record, praises defence
Hinkley more pleased with his side's defence than Schulz's record
NOT ONLY did Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley have no idea that Jay Schulz equaled a club record, he didn't even know how many goals his full-forward had kicked.
In distinctive Hinkley fashion, the victorious coach was too focused on the result and the defensive effort of his side.
It was the first time Schulz had notched eight goals after four previous hauls of seven.
The performance equaled that of four-time club champion Warren Tredrea, but Schulz was quick to deflect any praise to those higher up the ground.
As he did when Chad Wingard took his incredible mark against St Kilda in round 12, Hinkley also said the bulk of the plaudit should rest with his the rest those delivering the ball to the man of the moment.
"All I know is, Jay's finishing off our work and if Jay's the one finishing off our work I'm pretty happy, because he's a very, very good shot at goal," Hinkley said.
"He finishes the work that a lot of other people have to do for him so he's a part of the team."
The win ensured the Power will enter next week's Showdown against Adelaide with their four-point buffer at the top of the ladder in tact.
In contrast to the run home last season, Port won't be fighting for a finals berth but rather fighting for a home final.
Hinkley said that regardless of his side's place atop the ladder, it had plenty to perfect ahead of a second consecutive finals series.
"We're looking at a lot, but we're probably not going to tell you exactly what we're looking at," he said.
"I'll say it again, it comes around our defence – when we're defending really well I know we're going to play well."
Schulz agreed, claiming the playing group was harder on itself this season than he'd ever seen.
He denied there was any 'comfort bubble' at the top of the table.
"I think we're more demanding of each other than [anything] I've ever been involved in," Schulz said.
"We're enjoying playing footy together and we're enjoying playing well and we're upset with each other when we don't play well.
"That's a really good environment to be in, we're really honest with each other and we want to improve and we want to achieve something together."