On April 3, Port Adelaide champion and 2004 club Premiership Captain Warren Tredrea boldly stated Coach Ken Hinkley's future “untenable”, after a disappointing Showdown loss to Adelaide.
A month and a half later, the Power are thundering behind the ever-astute Hinkley, sitting in the top four behind six consecutive wins.
How things quickly turn around.
The Showdown defeat would have left a sour taste in the mouths of all Power supporters, a game they expected to win. Looking at the result shows Adelaide's rapid improvement within a two-month block. The result left Port 1-2, amidst a bumpy road, albeit with winnable games against the Western Bulldogs, West Coast, St Kilda, Essendon, and North Melbourne.
In the most difficult times, adversity often brings the best out of a team and players.
Particularly when a coach, in this case Hinkley, is on an expiring contract.
After being overrun by the swarming Crows in round three, Hinkley shared his disappointment during the post-match presser, with the external noise beginning to engulf him and the club.
“They should be. It's exactly what we expect, and we should acknowledge that. We put up the performance. We have to own it. We're as disappointed as anyone. I've said this plenty of times, people don't like it, but none will be more disappointed than the people out there trying to win it. And working hard to try and get it done. We didn't get it done. But if you are going to ask what our level of disappointment is, will it be matched by anyone else at Port Adelaide? 100% it will be,” Hinkley said.
Through the noise, Hinkley remained optimistic about his coaching future at Alberton, dismissing the “untenable” comments by Tredrea.
Many coaches have been under the intense pressure cooker of being a coach in one of the world's most ruthless sporting codes.
For example, in 1999, coaching legends Kevin Sheedy and David Parkin were under intense pressure to yield substantial quantum leaps with Essendon and Carlton, respectively, after disappointing results the year before. Another example is Richmond 3-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick, who faced intense scrutiny after 2016, after the Tigers nosedived to 13th with only eight wins, after making finals the previous three campaigns.
But club President Peggy O'Neal stuck firm, keeping Hardwick in the top job.
And we all know what happened in 2017.
Former Collingwood champion and coach Nathan Buckley was in the same position in late 2017 before the club rallied to win four of its seven final home and away games. The following season, he nearly pulled off what Hardwick accomplished in the Tigers' drought-breaking 37-year premiership, losing heartbreakingly to West Coast in the grand final.
Likewise, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin at the end of 2020, before the Demons ended a 57-year Premiership drought twelve months later.
Can Hinkley pull off the same rabbit out of the hat?
Time will tell.
All week in the lead-up to the Swans clash, the burning conversation was about Hinkley's coaching future.
By the second quarter, it only got louder as Sydney went clear by 25 points, then by 20 points early in the final term.
But lightning struck not once, not twice, not three times, but four times as Port Adelaide went on a Power surge, slamming four of the final five goals to record a marvellous victory. The emotion of Ken Hinkley was evident, raising both fists into the air, signifying what the result, not only meant to him but to the club after a week under the microscope. Despite the importance, Hinkley remained level-headed.
“(It does nothing). No, not nothing, it does a lot, because we need to take every win in this competition because it's so hard. But we can't afford to overplay one week to the next,” Hinkley said during the post-game presser.
Currently riding a six-game winning streak, the club's best since winning eight straight in 2014, the tackling pressure, tackles inside 50, inside 50s, and contested marks are reasons why Port Adelaide is one of the league's in-form sides. After only 53 tackles in the opening three rounds, including a woeful 39 in a 71-point hiding to a rampant Collingwood outfit, Port is averaging 70 in the last six weeks.
Willem Drew has been the staple for the Power's vigorous tackling pressure, leading the team with 60 through the first nine games (6.7 tackles per game), including 37 in the last five matches (7.4 per contest). Whilst the tackling pressure has been elite, the team's contested marking is another barometer for the Power's plans to attack from their back half.
Aliir Aliir, one of the League's best intercepting markers and hulking forward Charlie Dixon are central at either end of the ground. Dixon's prowess marking this season is running rings around opposition defences with games against Brisbane (6 contested marks), Essendon (5 contested marks), and Sydney (3 contested marks), providing the Power with an aerial threat - an area he has excelled in his career.
After a patchy three rounds allowing 108 points, the Power's have bolted on the defensive screws, only allowing 69.5 points during this current streak.
And they are doing it in different ways.
Each win has come differently, including a rain slog-fest against the Bulldogs, navigating by St Kilda's stingy defence by generating speed on the ball and hunting down North Melbourne with unrelenting forward 50 tackling.
It is well documented in 2022, which players would take the next step in alleviating the pressure of 2021 Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines and club stalwart Travis Boak?
Port have found their answers, the club's next generation.
Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Jason Horne-Francis, and Willem Drew.
The quartet are all having exceptional seasons.
Butters for his hardness, Rozee for his class and dash, Horne-Francis for his X-Factor, and Drew for his machine-like tackling.
Their forwards are causing problems in the air and at ground level, with Jeremy Finlayson (14 goals), Dixon (13 goals), Sam Powell-Pepper (12 goals), Todd Marshall (11 goals), and Junior Rioli (10 goals) all constant threats when the side gets the ball deep in their attacking 50.
Shifting 2020 All-Australian Darcy Byrne-Jones from the backline into a new forward role has given him a new lease, and he's making the most of it. He has booted six goals since his move against Sydney in Round 4. It's the most number of goals he's kicked in a season, having only kicked 7 in his first 154 games.
With Port thundering, can they replicate what they did in 2014 when they conquered eventual premiers Hawthorn under the Adelaide Oval bright lights in Round 10?
This time Melbourne is the opponent.
By late Friday night, we'll find out exactly where the Power sits in the premiership pecking order.
