In 23 years in the AFL Port Adelaide have played the side on top on the ladder 24 times for 12 wins.

They’ve been some of the best wins in club history and will resonate strongly with long-time Power fans. Like their club’s first game against the top side in 1997, when they came from 40 points down to win, when Warren Tredrea and Dom Cassisi kicked late goals for narrow wins in 2001 and 2007, and when they trailed at every change before winning in 2010.

Ken Hinkley has coached six games against the top side for a 3-3 record, and although coaches are always quick to move forward rather than look backwards, if he was totally honest, he’d probably admit Saturday’s outstanding win over Geelong at Adelaide Oval in his 150^th game as coach was his best. For several reasons.

First and foremost, for personal reasons, it was Geelong. Although he played his first two years and 11 games at Fitzroy in 1987-88, Hinkley is from Camperdown, which is down Geelong way, and is better known as an ex-Geelong player.

He played 121 games in the blue and white hoops from 1989-95, including 12 finals and three grand finals, was All-Australian in 1991-92 and club champion in 1992, when third in the Brownlow Medal.

To get one over the old club is always a good thing.

Furthermore, Geelong had sat on top of the ladder from Round 2, had lost only once, and was 18.4 percentage points ahead of the next best team in the competition. To beat them was a big thing.

That it was a big milestone game for the coach would not have been a consideration, but the standout performance that followed would have made for an enormously high level of private satisfaction.

Port’s 12 home-and-away wins against top-of-the-ladder sides have been:-

Rd 12 1997 – Port Adelaide (9^th) 14-10 (94) d Western Bulldogs (1^st) 12-10 (82) at Princes Pk.
Seven different clubs spent time on top of the ladder in the home-and-away season as the 6-5 Power, in their first season under John Cahill, faced an 8-3 Dogs side that was a game clear under Terry Wallace. The Dogs kicked 8.2 in the first quarter to lead by 40 but the Power slowly cut into the lead and kicked 6.0 in the final term to win by 12 points. Scott Cummings kicked five goals and Brayden Lyle earned three Brownlow Medal votes with 28 possessions.

Rd 13 1998 – Port Adelaide (11^th) 11-7 (73) d Western Bulldogs (1^st) 5-9 (39) at Football Park
It was a year in which Adelaide won the flag despite never getting to the top of the ladder and the Bulldogs, who were top 15 times in 22 rounds, didn’t make the grand final. The Power were coming off two losses and a draw when they faced the Dogs in Round 13 but posted an all-the-way win by 34 points. Donald Dickie had a career-best 31 possessions and kicked a career-best three goals to be judged best afield in Shayne Breuer’s 100^th AFL game.

Rd 17 2001 – Port Adelaide (5^th) 15-14 (104) d Essendon (1^st) 14-13 (97) at Football Park.
In their third season under Mark Williams Port had started 6-1 and 8-2 but won only two of their next six and were coming off a 34-point Round 16 loss to premiers Brisbane when they played an Essendon side coached by Kevin Sheedy which had been 10 weeks on top and was two games plus percentage clear of the competition. It was a beauty.  Port led by 28 points early in the second quarter but trailed by a point at halftime. They got 28 points up midway through the third quarter before the Bombers pulled level in time-on in the fourth, and it took a late Warren Tredrea goal to get Port home by seven points. An 18-year-old Brent Guerra kicked four goals, Josh Francou had 32 possessions and Matthew Primus earned three Brownlow votes with a career-best 24 possessions. Stephen Paxman became the second player after Darren Mead to play 100 AFL games for Port, and Bowen Lockwood played his 50^th and last game

Rd 22 2002 – Port Adelaide (2^nd) 13-12 (90) d Brisbane (1^st) 13-6 (84) at Football Park.
After starting the season with two losses Port won nine of 10 and got to the top of the AFL ladder for the first time in Round 13 after beating Richmond. They held top spot until Round 17, when they were displaced by Brisbane, and were second until they faced Brisbane in Round 22 for the minor premiership. It was personal – Mark Williams coaching against Leigh Matthews, who had sacked him as a player at Collingwood 16 years earlier and was now coaching the club where Williams had been the historic first ever player signing. The Power had won five in-a-row and trailed Brisbane on percentage only going into the last home-and-away game. They were 28 points up at three-quarter time but had to rely on a time-on goal from Roger James to win by six points. James had 31 possessions and kicked two goals to be best afield.

Rd 14 2004 – Port Adelaide (4^th) 14-9 (93) d St.Kilda (`1^st) 7-5 (47) in Launceston.

It was the year Port broke through for their first AFL premiership, but they didn’t get to the top of the ladder until Round 21. Twice the Power beat the top side. The first time was in Round 14 when they faced a St.Kilda side coached by Grant Thomas which had been on top of the ladder for 13 weeks. They outscored the Saints in every quarter and won by 46 points in Launceston. Dean Brogan picked up three Brownlow votes, Chad Cornes topped the possession count with 34 and Dom Cassisi kicked a career-best four goals.

Rd 19 2004 – Port Adelaide (4^th) 18-17 (125) d Melbourne (1^st) 6-16 (62) at Football Park.

After Brisbane had displaced St.Kilda from top spot in Round 17 Melbourne displaced Brisbane in Round 18 and travelled to Adelaide in Round 19 to face a Port side coming off a 40-point loss to Essendon, who were battling to make the eight. It was a big turning point for the Power, who belted the Demons by 73 points. Brendon Lade was best afield and Warren Tredrea kicked six goals. They didn’t lose another game for the year and beat Brisbane by 40 points in the grand final.

Rd 12 2006 – Port Adelaide (10^th) 13-19 (97) d West Coast (1^st) 8-12 (60) at Football Park

Five different sides enjoyed top spot on the ladder in the first eight weeks before West Coast settled in to lead at the mid-point of the season. In Round 12 the Eagles visited Adelaide to meet a Port side which was 5-6 and hadn’t broken into the top eight. They won by 37 points going away. Elijah Ware, a 23-year-old from Spencer Gulf via Central District (SANFL) and the Pre-Season Draft, debuted for the Power but it would be the first of only two games. A 23-year-old Shaun Burgoyne had 34 possessions and kicked two goals in his 94^th game to earn three Brownlow Medal votes, while Brendon Lade and Darryl Wakelin took the minor votes.

Rd 21 2007 – Port Adelaide (2^nd) 16-10 (106) d Geelong (1^st) 15-11 (101) at Kardinia Park.

West Coast had dominated top spot on the ladder in the first half of the season before they were displaced by Geelong in Round 11. They stayed there for the rest of the season and ultimately beat Port badly in the grand final. But in Round 21 in Geelong the Power got the better of the eventual premiers in a one-v-two battle. Geelong, coached by Mark Thompson, kicked the first two goals and Port the next five to lead by 19 points at quarter-time. It was five points to the visitors at halftime, 19 points again at the last change and 18 points with 11 minutes to play. But three time-on goals for the Cats from Steve Johnson, Paul Chapman and Gary Ablett put the home side a point up with three minutes to play. Dom Cassisi showed why he would become captain two years later when he kicked the match-winner with 31min21sec on the clock. Troy Chaplin received three Brownlow votes, Shaun Burgoyne two votes and Chad and Kane Cornes had 32 possessions each, as a 19-year-old Travis Boak played his 10^th game.

Rd 5 2010 – Port Adelaide (10^th) 7-12 (54) d St.Kilda (1^st) 6-8 (44) at Football Park.
Port had started the season 2-2 but copped a 95-point hiding from Geelong in Geelong in Round 4 as they prepared to host ladder leaders St.Kilda in Round 5. The Saints, who would eventually go on to draw and then lose the grand final to Collingwood under Ross Lyon, led at each change before the Power kicked 3-1 to 0-3 in the final quarter to win by 10 points. Matthew Lobbe made his AFL debut as David Rodan picked up three votes and Troy Chaplin had a career-best 32 possessions.

Rd 6 2014 – Port Adelaide (2nd) 16-11 (107) d Geelong (1st) 9-13 (67) at Adelaide Oval.
In his second season in charge at Port, Hinkley got his first taste of top of the table football when the second-placed Power hosted ladder leaders Geelong in their fourth match at Adelaide Oval on a Sunday afternoon. The Cats, in their fourth year under Chris Scott, had been the fourth team in five weeks to hold down top spot and were coming off a win over defending premiers Hawthorn. Geelong led by two points at quarter-time but Port kicked the next seven goals and held the visitors goalless for 45 minutes.  The home side’s lead got out to 50 points at one stage as Travis Boak (32 possessions, two goals), Hamish Hartlett (29 possessions, two goals) and Brad Ebert (28 possessions) took the 3-2-1 Brownlow votes.

Rd 23 2015 – Port Adelaide (9th) 18-14 (122) d Fremantle (1st) 8-5 (53) at Adelaide Oval.
It was something of a hollow Port win. Fremantle had been on top of the ladder from Round 4 and got to the final round of the home-and-away season two games clear with nothing to gain. So, coach Ross Lyon rested a lot of players and played four debutants and eight players with three games or less. The Dockers led by 19 points at quarter-time before Port, out of finals contention, regrouped to blitz the visitors 17-11 to 4-1 thereafter and win by 69 points. Westhoff had 25 possessions and kicked two goals to earn three votes, while Sam Gray topped 30 possessions for one vote. Fremantle were beaten by eventual premiers Hawthorn in the preliminary final.

Rd 14 2019 – Port Adelaide (9^th) 9-13 (67) d Geelong (1^st) 8-8 (56) at Adelaide Oval
After the coach’s triple-barrelled selection bombshell the Power kicked the first three goals, led by 24 points in a low-scoring game early in the final quarter and were able to concede the last two goals in ‘junk time’ and still won by 11 points to snap the Cats’ eight-game winning streak. It was a powerful vindication of Hinkley after he had become the 47^th person in 123 years of AFL football to coach 150 games, the 16^th member of this group to have coached at only one club, and the win gave Hinkley a career win/loss ratio of 56%.

Having been an assistant coach at St.Kilda, Geelong and Gold Coast and coached successfully in his own right in the country, Hinkley has now coached against 34 different opposition coaches. Only one coach has matched wits against him at two different clubs – John Worsfold.

Opposition Coaches of the Ken Hinkley Era at Port Adelaide have been:

Adelaide: Brenton Sanderson, Phillip Walsh, Scott Camporeale, Don Pyke
Brisbane: Michael Voss, Justin Leppitsch, Chris Fagan.
Carlton: Mick Malthouse, John Barker, Brendan Bolton.
Collingwood: Nathan Buckley.
Essendon: James Hird, Mark Thompson, John Worsfold.
Fremantle: Ross Lyon.
Geelong: Chris Scott.
Gold Coast: Guy McKenna, Rodney Eade, Dean Solomon, Stuart Dew.
GWS: Kevin Sheedy, Leon Cameron.
Hawthorn: Alastair Clarkson.
Melbourne: Mark Neeld, Paul Roos, Simon Goodwin.
North Melbourne: Brad Scott.
Richmond: Damien Hardwick.
St. Kilda: Scott Watters, Alan Richardson.
Sydney: John Longmire.
Western Bulldogs: Brendan McCartney, Luke Beveridge.
West Coast: John Worsfold, Adam Simpson.

It is one of the often forgotten football trivia facts that during Hinkley’s 150-game rein as Port Adelaide coach the club has actually played 151 games.

Alan Richardson, now St.Kilda coach and Hinkley’s senior assistant in 2013, coached the Round 6 game against North Melbourne in Hobart because Hinkley was unwell.

Still, Hinkley has coached 77 of Port’s 187 AFL players, including the 48 Power players who have played for Port for the first time since he introduced six players into his first game in charge against Melbourne at the MCG in Round 1 2013, when the Power won by 79 points.

The six first-time Power players that day were Angus Monfries (ex-Essendon), Lewis Stevenson (ex-West Coast) and Campbell Heath(ex-Sydney), plus AFL debutants Ollie Wines, Jake Neade and Kane Mitchell.

Of the 151 games the club has played during the Hinkley era, 10 players have played 100 games or more - Westhoff (149), Boak (148), Brad Ebert (145), Robbie Gray (139), Wines (135), Chad Wingard (128), Tom Jonas (117), Jasper Pittard (112), Matthew Broadbent (110) and Hamish Hartlett (107). 

The 77 players who have played for Port during the Hinkley era are: