PORT ADELAIDE coach Mark Williams hopes his side's recent premiership success will give it an edge against the less experienced Geelong side in next week's grand final.
Williams, whose preliminary final side contained six players with fewer than 50 games' experience, said having won the club's first AFL flag just three years ago meant his side understood what next Saturday's match would demand.
Three years after denying the Brisbane Lions a fourth consecutive flag, the Power moved into the grand final after destroying the Kangaroos with an eight-goal-to-nil third quarter and an 87-point win.
"Almost everything went right for us. For North, they missed so many goals early and again in the third quarter. The game was blown apart," Williams said.
"Our guys took their chances and I'm pleased they did. They kept at it, and in the end the last quarter was basically about making sure no one go injured.
"We know we go to Melbourne with the odds stacked against us, but we do have 10 or 11 premiership players playing in our side and it's not too long ago they were there."
Williams said that while he was not out to "scare" Geelong, he looked forward to taking on the side his players beat by five points only five weeks ago — a win that helped the Power clinch second spot on the ladder.
He said he expected some serious expectation to follow the Cats into the match.
"I am not here to scare them. They know what's coming up," he said.
"They have got a lot of expectation with them.
"We go in there looking forward to the opportunity.
"We took on a team that had won three premierships in a row the last time we played (in a grand final) so I am not sure whether there is any greater task than that.
"This particular one for us we go into looking forward to it."
The Power must replace veteran defender Michael Wilson, who snapped his Achilles tendon early in the match. Williams described Wilson, a Rising Star winner and a member of the premiership team, as the "heart and soul" of the club but said another player must grab the chance.
"We are devastated for Michael and his family, doing his Achilles this time of the year. He is very much the heart and soul of this club," Williams said. "He plays tough and hard footy and he's going to be very difficult, in fact impossible to replace, but someone will get the opportunity and he needs to step up and grab it."
The 30-year-old veteran ruptured his left Achilles and limped from the field 10 minutes into the second term. Wilson, a member of Port's inaugural AFL squad, has played 187 games and will have surgery this week.
