AFL ladder leaders Port Adelaide have lost Ryan Burton to injury while Zak Butters will come under match review scrutiny after what could prove to be a costly 36-point win over North Melbourne.

In his second game back from a quadriceps injury, Burton went down with the same issue before quarter-time at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

His absence didn’t stop the Power notching a comfortable 11.12 (78) to 6.6 (42) victory that maintained their place at the top of the ladder.

But they have a further concern with young gun Butters facing likely suspension for a high bump on North’s Jy Simpkin during the third quarter.

Butters could have tackled Simpkin but chose to bump in a collision that left the Kangaroos midfielder momentarily dazed.

Simpkin was ordered to the bench and played no further part in the match.

The Kangaroos showed fight and scrapped to stay with Port in the first half.

But the Power’s better ball movement and efficiency in attack were telling as Ollie Wines, Travis Boak and Tom Rockliff controlled the midfield battle.

Wines and key forward Charlie Dixon kicked two goals apiece as Port spread the scoring load.

There was a sliding-doors moment in the third quarter as Jack Ziebell sliced a set shot at one end and Robbie Gray kicked truly at the other soon afterwards.

It opened up a 20-point advantage for the Power, who were not troubled beyond that point.

Recalled Kangaroos wingman Jared Polec (15 disposals) didn’t have a huge impact after three matches out of the side and captain Ziebell was quiet in his return from a hamstring injury.

Highly-rated debutant Flynn Perez was crunched in a huge tackle by Dixon but bounced straight to his feet and finished with nine disposals.