Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has not ruled out finals this year. Despite their poor start, he refused to concede that featuring in September was out of the equation.
It's just the second time in the club's history that they have started the season winless after four games. Worse still, they created more unwanted history in Thursday night's game by not kicking a goal in the first half, a first for the proud club.
Though they finally broke through for their first goal late in the third quarter, it was a dirty night for the Power. Having lost by a kick after the siren in the Showdown last week, their season is quickly unravelling.
History is against Port, since 1975 only one team has started 0-4 and featured in September. In 2017, Sydney famously started 0-6 and rallied to make the eight.
Despite all of this, Hinkley remains defiant, insisting they are still in the hunt for finals. When asked about the prospect, he bristled slightly.
"It means two can," he said.
"Absolutely. Why not? We haven't had everything the way we want, but it's a long season. I get that people are going to question my belief, but I'm strong in it. I think we can absolutely move forward and improve quickly."
While Port's form hasn't been great, injuries have taken their toll as well. Without key players Charlie Dixon, Aliir Aliir, Robbie Gray, Orazio Fantasia and Trent McKenzie, the Power have found the going tough.
"I think there's some obvious reasons... There are some personnel reasons and there are some challenges around what we're trying to achieve. They're real. The challenges are real. But we've got some people trying to step up," Hinkley added.
"I think it was our fifth or sixth debutant for the club tonight already. We can't quite get the continuity of people back, which then can flow into confidence of other players. It's too simplistic to just put it down to one of two things."
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The situation was compounded last night by injuries to two crucial players. Ruckman Scott Lycett appeared to injure his shoulder during the game but played through the remaining quarters, with Port yet to confirm the severity of the setback.
Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines was the other concern. Subbed off at half-time of the game due to a bout of nausea. Hinkley gave some insight into the issue post-game.
"Ollie wasn't well. He's actually gone off to hospital to be checked. We're being really cautious to make sure he's ok. We'll update you from that once we know exactly what he's dealing with."
Things don't get any easier for the Power, travelling to Melbourne to take on a red-hot Carlton next week at the MCG.
