For a club that pursues excellence, there is little opportunity to absorb the significance of a strong start to a season, even with a one-week respite courtesy of its early-season bye.
The Power's three-goal win over Fremantle on Saturday snapped a six-game, four-season losing streak against the Dockers and confirmed a 7-1 start to the 2014 season.
Match report
But for Hinkley, who has steered his playing group with a steady hand this year, Saturday’s win over Fremantle means more than fringe records for his charges. It represents another crucial learning experience against the best defensive side in the league.
Withstanding Fremantle’s suffocating defensive style in the opening half and breaking it in the second was a testament to the hard work the Power’s playing group has put in all year.
It was a particularly significant win for the playing group against a team Hinkley revealed was one the club modelled itself on.
The commitment to hard work and developing a fit list dates back to the club’s pre-season journey to the United Arab Emirates.
Since then the group has worked hard to improve and develop and Hinkley says their prescribed break next week is richly deserved.
“We’ve been going since Dubai,” Hinkley said.
“You know we’ve been working really, really hard and we look forward to a bit of a break now.
“The boys thoroughly deserve three or four days off.”
Hinkley lauded the game itself and the performance of his team, particularly after being brushed aside by the Dockers in Perth at the end of 2013.
“We got an absolute touch up from a fierce defensive team last year,” Hinkley said.
“We made Freo our target in defence – that’s what we want to be, we want to be as good as we possibly can [because] we think Freo are outstanding defensively.
“I thought it was a great game of just really hard, tough, pressure footy.
“We were really strong in the first quarter, they were really strong [in the] second and parts of the third.
“We were able to certainly turn that around in the second half and get some momentum going.”
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The Power will rest this week before turning its focus to the immense challenge of flag fancies Hawthorn at the Adelaide Oval in two Saturday’s time.
Hawthorn will also have a bye this week.
It set the scene for a mammoth battle between two strong football sides, but the Hawks remain the benchmark for the Power, particularly given their own five-game winning streak over Port Adelaide.
While the Power has played good, consistent football in Hinkley’s eyes, it hasn’t been perfect.
That’s why he’ll be sticking to his usual routine when preparing his list for Round 10.
“It will probably bore you … but we just focus in again and keep going,” he told journalists after the game.
“It’s not something I make up, that ‘Get what you deserve’ stuff, it’s what I believe in.
“You’ve just got to keep playing … we face up to Hawthorn in Round 10 … [teams like] Hawthorn, Sydney – it just keeps going again.
“There’s no doubt we’ve played strong footy right through from the pre-season ‘til now.
“But we haven’t played perfect footy, no coach would tell you that [but] we’ve played enough solid football.”
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Hinkley will ask his team to keep improving and maturing as a football side throughout the entire 2014 season.
Aware he is still helming a young list with plenty of miles left to run, Hinkley’s goal is to craft the Power’s list into one capable of consistently achieving the results they want, week-in, week out.
But there’s a good foundation at Alberton, and it’s only because the playing group wants to reach great heights that improvement has continued in 2014.
“They’ve continued to work harder.,” Hinkley said.
“They’ve been prepared to work hard and improve each other, and improve themselves.
“We’re entitled, I think, to keep improving, because we are a side that is still developing.
“Our players have got to continue to improve because we’re not at that stage where we’re a fully matured team.
“When we do get to that point, we can make everything count when we get there.”
Port Adelaide will play Hawthorn in a Saturday night blockbuster at the Adelaide Oval on May 24.
Tickets will sell fast for this match and are still available via Ticketek.
A Port Adelaide three-game or general admission membership remains the best way to ensure entry to the game though, so help the club keep breaking its membership record by signing up at weareportadelaide.com.au.
