PORT Adelaide's 19-point loss to Greater Western Sydney on Sunday succinctly summed up the club’s season to date, coach Ken Hinkley says.
"We are OK when we are in it, but when they stepped on the pedal we weren’t able to keep going with them and they were just too good on the night," Hinkley conceded post-match.
"When they (the top sides) have stepped up we just haven’t been able to stay with them."
The Power led the Giants by 20 points at half-time and clearly beat the visitors in general play during the opening term at Adelaide Oval.
But the home side seems to rely on manic pressure and when they released the pressure valve in the third term, the Giants exploded with five goals to one.
Hinkley said Port was exposed around the contest and at stoppage during the third quarter, but added it was difficult to pinpoint where it went wrong in the blustery, slippery conditions.
"They are quite rare conditions in AFL at the moment, so we’ll sit back tonight and have a little bit of a look at it, and see where we go," Hinkley said.
"We weren’t able to get any control in the contest (in the third quarter).
"We weren’t clean enough at ground level and they were able to be clean … in really tough conditions we were probably a little bit fumbly compared to them."
The loss see Port fall three games behind eighth-placed North Melbourne but Hinkley said his side would not give up on finals.
"You just don’t know in this game, what’s going to happen and what’s not going to happen," Hinkley said.
"Yes, it looks unlikely but we live in the thought that we control what we can (control), and that’s next week (against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night)."
But Hinkley said the club would keep looking at its list in the search for a winning formula.
"We go every week, and we start with next week, and we will give ourselves the best chance to perform well, and hopefully still see our list develop and see which players are capable of improving," he said.
"But tonight was a hard one because the assessments go out a little bit because of the conditions."
Jasper Pittard appeared to sustain a groin injury in the final term but Hinkley believed the side got through the clash with a clean bill of health.
