Port Adelaide extend club record winning streak with promise of more

Port Adelaide is on a club-record winning streak and after smashing Geelong, coach Ken Hinkley had some bad news for the other 17 AFL teams.

Port Adelaide has won 11 in a row (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley vowed his barnstorming team will “always hunt” and never be the hunted after his club entered the bye on a record-breaking winning streak and with a premiership tilt to come.

The Power shot to the top of the ladder, and made it 11 wins in a row, with an impressive 38-point result against Geelong on Thursday night, that Hinkley labelled “a nice way to go into the bye”.

Asked if the stunning winning streak would have other teams targeting the Power, Hinkley said his side‘s philosophy would not change.

“We always hunt, we‘re used to hunting, I think it’s what we’ve always had to do in my time here,” Hinkley said.

“You never get comfortable.

“You just know that you‘ve got to keep going and working really hard.

“You get belief and that helps you continue to hunt.”

In a warning to the rest of the competition, Hinkley will use the break to tinker with his 12-2 side that he believes is capable of getting even better.

“We haven‘t played perfectly, no one has, and you’re always trying to build,” he said.

“I think there‘s good opportunities for us to improve.

“We‘ve got some players who can potentially play better, we’ve got some parts of our game that we can maximise.

“We‘re not quite maximising all parts of our game, which gives you great optimism.”

Ken Hinkley (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

After three six-day breaks in succession, Hinkley said the bye had come at just the right time for his players, who need a mental and physical break before a premiership assault.

Hinkley said his team‘s goals remain the same as they were at the start of the year, despite the impressive run of winning form.

“At the start of the season you want to win as many as you can,” he said.

“It‘s a great run that we’re on, it helps, but it doesn’t do anything just now.

“So, our goal at the start of the year was the same as it is today.

“We‘re going to try and win a premiership, but first of all, we have to qualify as high as we can.

“Sometimes it builds more pressure in some ways, you‘re going well so you need to keep going well.

“There‘s no limit to how many wins in a row, but I’m happy just to keep banking wins if we can.”

Port will look to make it 12 wins in a row when it takes on Essendon at the MCG in a Saturday night clash in Round 16.