The one thing Ken Hinkley felt he didn't have to say at halftime was probably the most important.
It was non-negotiable that Port Adelaide honour Travis Boak's 350th AFL game with a win.
Staring down an 11-point deficit at the long break on Sunday at the MCG, the Power rallied in the second half to break clear of undermanned Richmond's impressive challenge and beat them by 30 points.
Boak, the 23rd AFL player to reach the milestone, was chaired off after the 18.14 (122) to 13.14 (92) victory and Hinkley said it would have been "hollow" for the milestone had the Power lost.
"When you care about each other, you don't have to mention it," Hinkley said.
"They all know what Travis means to our footy club.
"One hundred per cent, Trav deserved a victory and you don't always get what you deserve in life unfortunately.
"I'm so proud of the way he handled the whole week and the way the boys responded for him, I think, in the second half - forget everything else, they wanted to make sure Travis went off a winner."
What Hinkley did discuss at halftime was his side's poor second quarter.
After spraying 3.7 in the first term, Hinkley said they let themselves down in two of their most important areas - contest and defensive shape.
The Tigers had six forced changes for this game, including Maurice Rioli as a last-minute omission when he tweaked his back in the warm-up.
But they smelled blood in the second quarter, kicking four goals to two.
Liam Baker's two late goals in the third term again brought them back to within seven points at the last change, but Port put the foot down with three early goals in the last quarter to finally kill off the contest.
"It was a good sign for me, for the maturity of the team," Hinkley said. "They realised what wasn't working so well for them and they were capable of changing, which makes a big difference in an AFL game."
Power star Zak Butters kicked a crucial goal late in the second quarter and starred with a game-high 34 possessions, while Todd Marshall snared four goals.
Port now have a massive home game next Saturday night against Melbourne, who have won their past two.
"I'm not really looking forward to it at all," Hinkley said with a rueful grin.
"It's going to take our absolute best."
While Richmond are struggling at 0-3, they lost no friends with Sunday's effort.
They were cruelled by a 13-23 free kick count, but never dropped their heads.
"It's all happening, but that's okay. I spoke to the players about that - we're going through a bit of adversity," coach Adem Yze said of their injuries.
"I feel like when we do play our best footy, in patches, we can take it up to the best teams.
"There are elements of our game we're really proud of."
Baker was Richmond's best with three goals and 11 contested possessions.
