Port Adelaide Power coach Ken Hinkley is refusing to shut down hopes his side could make the finals despite five straight losses to start the 2022 season.
Port Adelaide were tasked with playing the Carlton Blues at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday afternoon in Round 5, and after a horror start which saw them trail 78 points to 29 at halftime, a monster second half would eventually fall just short, with Carlton getting home by three points.
The slow start and lack of points in the eventual 14.10 (94) - 13.13 (91) loss is a trend which has followed Port Adelaide around like a bad smell over the opening five weeks.
Hinkley's side have only scored over 90 points in one other game, against the Adelaide Crows in Round 3, while they have otherwise put on scores of 36 (vs Melbourne, Round 4), 56 (vs Hawthorn, Round 2) and 69 (vs Brisbane, Round 1).
Despite that, Hinkley said he was going to continue to work towards playing finals football.
"I'm going to continue to believe that and I'm going to continue to work towards that," Hinkley said.
"It's enormously challenging, there's no doubt about that, but I'm not going to give up and the team won't give up.
"We'll keep to task and we'll keep going and you never know, we might get on a (winning) run just as big."
Before 2022, the Power haven't started the season with a loss since 2015, with a zero and four start in 2008 being the previous worst in the club's history. That is despite the fact they only recorded a single win and a draw in the 12 games during the 2000 season.
As it stands, Port Adelaide sit at the bottom of the table as the only side without a win, holding the third-worst attacking record and the sixth-worst defensive record, those numbers only brought off the bottom by their two close losses to Adelaide and Carlton.
Despite that, Hinkley said his own history - when Port lost five straight early in the 2013 season but played finals - suggested his team could turn it around.
"Does it matter when you lose your five in a row if you can win enough? I don't know," Hinkley said.
"But my history tells me that you can lose five in a row and still make finals."
The Power are also hopeful of having Ollie Wines back on the park next weekend when they take on the West Coast Eagles at home, with games against St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne to follow in the coming weeks.
