Ken Hinkley says Port Adelaide players’ mental toughness will be questioned after finals disaster

Four finals losses in a row, including three at home, has people asking whether Port Adelaide players have what it takes to win a premiership.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says hard questions will be asked of his players’ mental toughness on the big stage after rampant Geelong ran roughshod over them in an 84-point qualifying final disaster but is adamant they will all own their latest finals failure.

Hinkley said the Cats appeared “almost two levels above” his desperately disappointing side at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, with the result making it four finals defeats in a row for the Power, three of them at Adelaide Oval, with Hinkley’s finals record slipping to 5-8.

“I can appreciate that question because they’re the facts and I always deal in facts,” Hinkley replied when asked if his side’s poor showing in finals in recent years had become a mental issue.

“The reality is we believe the group are better than that, but for the next 24 hours we have to live with that performance.

“We have to live with the fact that our last three or four finals haven’t been at the level we need them to be.

“Those questions come about once the game turns badly.

“Maybe there is a bit of a moment where they dwell on stuff that they didn’t want to happen that did happen, I think that’s fair, but we hit the lead there at one point and it felt like they were still OK and we were playing OK at that point.

Port players were no match for Geelong. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“We were probably lucky to be that close but there’s no doubt about the question, and how they feel about that, but I’ve asked them to quickly unpack what tonight was and then get themselves ready to go again.”

The dismal display will ratchet up the pressure on Hinkley, who is still searching for his first grand final berth in his 12th season with the Power.

“It’s not one individual, but there’s a figurehead and, for me, I sit in that spot,” he said.

“I’ve been really clear all year; I work really hard to give the best results we can possibly get.

“My team of coaches and people in the footy department do everything to have the result.

“We had that result (against Geelong), but the season suggests that we’ve been better than that consistently.

“We have not turned up in a final and played the way that we wanted to … that’s fact.”

The Power faces the prospect of a sudden-death semi-final at Adelaide Oval against the winner of the Western Bulldogs-Hawthorn elimination final without star midfielder Zak Butters after he was subbed out of the game with a rib injury early in the third quarter.

A massive blow for Port Adelaide with a sore Zak Butters subbed out, replaced by Quinton Narkle.

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“He got a whack in the ribs and obviously he couldn’t go on, so that’s a pretty good indication that he’s pretty sore,” Hinkley reported.

“But we’ll wait and see what happens with the scans and hope that he’s OK.

“He’s voted the toughest player in the AFL by his peers and he couldn’t go out there again, so it does (make you think) Zak must be reasonably sore.

“But I don’t have any evidence or information to give.”

Charlie Dixon endured a torrid night after he was preferred over an underdone Todd Marshall, with the 33-year-old receiving Bronx cheers from Power fans nearing the end of his three-possession, goalless display.

“We didn’t have Todd fit and firing and playing lots of football,” Hinkley said of his decision to go with Dixon.

“We just didn’t have all the choices that you want in that space, but it’s a wonderful thing hindsight.

“You look back and reflect and think ‘Could Todd have done a bit better’?”

Originally published as Ken Hinkley says Port Adelaide players’ mental toughness will be questioned after finals disaster