Ken Hinkley says not making finals would mean Port Adelaide have failed this season, ahead of must-win clash against GWS

Port Adelaide’s finals chances are dwindling but Ken Hinkley says a top-eight finish is still the Power’s ‘minimum’ and ‘pass mark’ for 2019.

Ken Hinkley says finals are still the “minimum” for Port Adelaide despite the Power’s top eight hopes dwindling. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says making finals isn’t just the Power’s “pass mark” it is still “our minimum” ahead of their must win clash against GWS on Saturday.

Having lost consecutive games for the first time since rounds seven and eight, falling a win plus percentage outside the top eight, the Power face a massive clash against the Giants at Adelaide Oval - with a third straight loss set to all but kill their top-eight hopes.

If the Power fail to make the top eight come season’s end it would be the second straight season in which they have not played finals football and Hinkley said it would be a failure if the club missed out.

Paddy Ryder could return to the AFL side (AAP Image/Kelly Barnes)

“It’s important we play finals,” he said on SEN.

“We set out to do that at the start of the year, that’s where our mark is and it shouldn’t just be our pass mark, that’s our minimum.

“We are working bloody hard to play finals.”

Before being outclassed by Richmond at the MCG last Saturday, the Power had blown hot and cold each week - winning one game then losing the next - frustrating Hinkley and their fans.

“We are a bloody good side when we get it right but we are average when we get it wrong,” he said.

Dropped big man Paddy Ryder could be recalled to the side in an attempt by Hinkley to rediscover the Power’s best footy after impressing at SANFL level last time out.

“We need to change some things up and be adventurous,” he said.

“Ryder and (Scott) Lycett can play together if both are in good form.”

GWS have been ravaged by injuries, losing star midfielders Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio to injury in recent weeks, but were able to stun Collingwood last time out.

After choosing not to go with the hard tag against the Tigers, Hinkley said it was unlikely the Power would do the same to negate the running machine that is the Giants’ Lachie Whitfield.

“He (Whitfield) is a great player, an absolutely fantastic player but so is Toby Greene, so is Taranto, they have got a few but Lachie is certainly a player who causes a teams a lot of problems,” he said.

“He just gut runs and goes as hard as anyone in the game I reckon, he is a really difficult player to play against.

“Darcy (Byrne-Jones) played against him last year and Darcy did a good job to hang on with him but at the end of the game it seemed like Darc was just hanging on.

“(But) he will be no more of a focus then anyone else on the team.

“But I want to challenge them with what we have got as well, with Robbie Gray, Tom Rockliff and people like that and our forwards have some threat about them as well.

“It’s not an intimidation moment for us, this is an opportunity for us to go after them.”