Pressure mounts on Ken Hinkley as Port savaged over 'pathetic' scenes in AFL finals loss

Ken Hinkley is once again facing unwanted speculation about his future after Port Adelaide were humiliated in their second-biggest AFL finals loss in club history on Thursday night. Geelong marched into another preliminary final, trouncing Port 20.18 (138) to 7.12 (54) at Adelaide Oval.

It marks the Power's fourth finals loss in a row and puts them on the cusp of another straight-sets exit. Hinkley has done a remarkable job with Port Adelaide in 2024, taking them to a second-place finish.

But another finals failure will spark questions about his 272-game tenure - the longest in VFL/AFL history without reaching a grand final. "The next 24 hours, we have to live with that performance," Hinkley said after Port's 84-point loss. "We have to live with the facts ... our last three or four finals haven't been at the level we need them to be.

"It's about our coaching group, it's about our playing group and it's about our footy club. I know, and I get, that it falls back to the head coach in some ways. But the reality is, we've always said, this is all of us doing this, this is all of us trying to achieve something together.

"It's not one individual but there's a figurehead and, for me, I sit in that spot. I work really hard to give the best results we can possibly get. And my team of coaches and my team of people in the footy department do everything they can not to have that result."

Port Adelaide rocked by Zak Butters injury blow

The embarrassing loss on their home turf only ranks behind Port's 119-point capitulation to Geelong in the 2007 grand final. And the loss was compounded by a rib injury to dual All-Australian and vice-captain Zak Butters, who had to be substituted out of the game.

Alarm bells were ringing for Hinkley when Butters, who is a back-to-back winner of the AFL's most courageous player award, couldn't return to the contest. "He's rated the toughest player in the AFL by his peers and he couldn't go out there again and play ... he must be reasonably sore," Hinkley said.

Butters will have scans on Friday and the Power will attempt to reset for a home semi-final final against the winner of the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn elimination final. "How do we handle it and move forward quickly? Because we have to ... we have got to find a way," Hinkley said.

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Pressure on Ken Hinkley after fourth-straight AFL finals loss

Asked if there was mental scarring from losing their past four finals, Hinkley replied: "I can appreciate that question because they're the facts and I always deal in the facts. The reality is, we believe the group are better than that."

Port fans were left fuming over Thursday night's performance, describing it as "pathetic" and "embarrassing". There were plenty who suggested the Power need to move on from Hinkley despite the success he's had in the regular season.

"I think they lack resilience," Kane Cornes said on SEN radio on Friday morning. "You can't give up in a final like that... and there was many many times where I think Port Adelaide players made a decision to give up."

Port Adelaide's last four finals games:

• 84-point loss to Geelong - 2024 qualifying final

• 23-point loss to GWS - 2023 semi-final

• 48-point loss to Brisbane - 2023 qualifying final

• 71-point loss to Western Bulldogs - 2021 preliminary final

with AAP