PORT ADELAIDE senior coach Ken Hinkley expressed his pride in his side playing the game out on its own terms against Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon.
The Suns kicked the first goal of the game through Ben King but after that the Power piled on seven unanswered goals to set up the win.
“It was a really strong performance” said Ken Hinkley after the game.
“We were able to come up and perform the way we wanted to perform.
“We knew there would be some risk with them early with them coming off a poor performance but I thought we were pretty good early and started the game the way we’d like to, we got the score board under control quickly and managed to play the game out the way we’d like.”
Midfielder Ollie Wines put in another best on ground performance against the Suns, gathering a career high 43-disposals, with his coach giving a nod to the year he has had.
“Ollie had a great day, but not just a great day, he has had a great year,” Hinkley said.
“He has been able to rack up big numbers, the support of the team allows him to do that.
“His job is to get in and under and get the ball for us and he does it as well as anyone in the competition.”
The only dampener on the 50-point win was injuries to milestone man Robbie Gray (knee) and youngster Lachie Jones (hamstring).
Hinkley noted that injuries have been a challenge for the side this year, but was proud of the flexibility of his players to come in and fill roles as required.
“We have had a few too many people in and out the team which makes things a little challenging,” the Port coach said.
“But that’s why I think we’re doing a pretty good job with where we are and what we have done, it hasn’t been perfect for us.
“Good teams are able to do what we are doing at the moment, which is not always play perfect but win, not always have everything on your own terms and win, travel and win, I think we have been able to do that pretty consistently.
“What I do like is we have had some people be able to fill roles for us, whether it has been their first choice roles or not, they have been able to fill them for us and we have been able to win the games we have to win, and we have been more than competitive against some really good teams.”
