But the thrill for his four-point victorious side will be short-lived.
While his charges were basking in the glow that comes from being the winning side in South Australia's local derby, Hinkley had turned his focus to Port Adelaide's next opponent - Geelong - before he'd even arrived at his post-match press conference.
"I looked at the draw before I came in here and it's Geelong, at Geelong," he said.
"I dealt with it really quickly... I know there's another enormous challenge coming for us."
He knows exactly what that challenge means for his players.
When Port Adelaide last defeated Geelong, it had played in just one AFL grand final, Warren Tredrea was still the club's captain, Hinkley himself was an assistant with the Cats and just six members of that Port team are with the club today.
Such has been Geelong's dominance over the Power in recent years.
Hinkley's focus won't be entirely Cat-centric at the start of the week however.
He will first look back at the club's latest come-from-behind win against the Crows.
"We'll review it (the Showdown) really hard," Hinkley said.
"We have to, every week's a learning curve for this side, all the experiences we get are really important to us."
The Crows are one of few sides to defeat Geelong this season, and Hinkley was impressed with their ability to wrest back the Showdown lead during the third quarter on Sunday afternoon.
"At half time we had the game probably where we wanted it to be," said Hinkley of Port's 21-point lead at the long break.
"The Crows were fantastic in the second half (and) they certainly had their team with the ball.
"But it was a good performance all round for both sides."
Hinkley continues to hold belief in his young side, particularly the playing group's own self-belief.
"I've been involved in some incredible performances in 2013 already, as I've said this group just keeps on coming," he said.
"This group just believes in what its trying to do."
Port Adelaide will be right back into its regular program on Monday with a review of Sunday's win.
The Power's football machine will then turn to Saturday's match at Simonds Stadium and a fired-up Cats outfit coming off a loss to North Melbourne.
