Richmond will be ruing their decision to host Port Adelaide in Darwin after the Power upset them by 15 points to climb off the bottom of the AFL ladder and keep the Tigers out of the eight.

Regular Northern Territory visitors Port Adelaide won 13.11 (89) to 10.14 (74) in humid, slippery conditions on Saturday night, notching their first victory in six games.

Power forwards Jay Schulz (three goals) and Robbie Gray (four) did the scoreboard damage, while Dean Brogan starred in the ruck as Port were rewarded for four quarters of hard work, even if their skills did not always match their effort.

Port failed to capitalise on their dominance in general play early in the match and the contest seemed to be sliding the Tigers' way when they edged to a nine-point halftime lead.

But the Power stormed in front with a 6.3 to 3.1 third quarter, which gave them an 11-point lead at the last change.

Marks and goals early in the last quarter to Justin Westhoff and Schulz extended the lead to 24 points to ensure Port's drought-breaking win.

Brogan and midfielders Travis Boak and Danyle Pearce were key instigators of Port's second-half charge, while Westhoff provided an excellent roaming target across half-forward and was one of the few marking players to shine.

Schulz provided plenty of grunt work in attack to help set up goals for his side's little men, as well as his own majors, while goalsneak Gray capitalised on the slippery conditions, with his two third-term goals helping break Richmond's back.

The Tigers had entered the match as hot favourites after winning a blockbuster against Essendon in front of more than 80,000 at the MCG last weekend, their fourth win in five games.

But they failed to show the same sort of poise or endeavour in front of 11,506 fans at TIO Stadium.

Richmond midfielder Nathan Foley worked hard to win a heap of the ball, while Bachar Houli was a standout with his rebound from halfback.

Port fullback Alipate Carlile deserved credit for an excellent job on Jack Riewoldt, with two of the Tiger star forward's three goals coming late in the match when the contest was already decided.

Power coach Matthew Primus was not getting carried away with the win.

"It was only our second win of the year, but for the players it shows a bit of resilience, it has been a difficult six weeks," he said.

"We've been playing the footy we want to for halves and three quarters, but haven't been able to put it together.

"But I thought tonight, bar five minutes or so here or there, we were really competitive and that's what got us the result."

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick described the loss as "a real let-down".

"It was uncharacteristic for our guys, we thought we came in with good preparation but we didn't play anywhere near good enough," he said.

"I didn't think we hunted the ball anywhere near hard enough and Port to their credit, their ability to handle the ball was outstanding. I thought ours was very, very poor."

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