Warren Tredrea's finest hour in many a year saved Port Adelaide's skin and heaped further pressure on a Richmond side that played with tremendous spirit to lose by three points in an AFL thriller on Sunday.

The Power looked home at 31 points up in the third term before a frenzied Richmond fightback had the Tigers 16 points clear halfway through the last.

But Tredrea, who had started the match like a train with four first term goals, bobbed up again to set up one goal and kick another.

He fittingly made the game safe with a towering pack mark as the Tigers made one last forward thrust, allowing Port to win 14.18 (102) to 15.9 (99).

Defeat left precious little consolation for Tigers coach Terry Wallace, due to attend a club board meeting in midweek when more may become known about his clouded future, and he described the result as "very cutting".

"Preliminary final losses and things like that cut very very deep, this one was very cutting, but the reality is you pick yourself up," he said.

"You get to a stage in the game where you're 15-odd points in front with only a few minutes to play. Your will to want to win, versus your logic to do the right things, one can get in the way of the other ... you're just throwing yourself into situations without actually thinking about what you're doing.

"We didn't keep our cool and we gave them back the opportunity to win the game.

"You can get a pat on the back and feel sorry for yourself sitting in the Qantas lounge on the way home but no-one's going to give you a couple of points for it."

Power coach Mark Williams reckoned Tredrea's seven-goal game was the equal of any he had played, stretching back to a star-making haul of eight against Carlton in 1998.

"Tredders' effort was outstanding, as good a game as he's ever played for the club, right up there with the most influential, kicking goals when we needed them and in the end taking that mark fairly deep in the pack," Williams said.

"We will continually just push the fact that you need to work hard, and that's it.

"Those things are like gold when you need them ... if the mind can remember that, they can do it again."

Port captain Domenic Cassisi was also outstanding, while Travis Boak and Danyle Pearce contributed plenty to a team effort that flagged badly in the third.

Kane Cornes endured a difficult match after declaring himself fit despite an injured AC joint; he was on and off the field and vomited at one point, something williams attributed to a virus.

The Tigers had plenty of contributors on a day when they probably should have won, small forward Robin Nahas (five goals) a constant nuisance, Shane Tuck and Mark Coughlan doing well in the middle and Ben Cousins playing a fine third quarter.

Port were good value for a three-goal halftime lead and goals to Cassisi and Tredrea early in the third stretched the margin beyond five goals before the afternoon took a most unexpected turn.

Winning the ball out of the middle and going direct to hurry Port's backline, the Tigers kicked seven of eight goals for the remainder of the term to claim a four-point, last-change lead.

Mitch Morton and Trent Cotchin stretched the margin to three straight kicks and had some among a crowd of 22,034 pondering the AAMI Stadium exits.

But the contest would have one last twist, Tredrea involved to cut the margin and then ultimately kicking the winner after Troy Chaplin missed his chance to do so.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP