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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

Winless Port coach unfazed by blowtorch

Despite starting the season with five defeats, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley isn't panicking. (AAP)

Winless Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley won't think about the ramifications of another AFL loss this weekend.

"Hypothetical," he told reporters on Friday.

"It's not one that I think I should be trying to even answer.

"I have got a job to do today and a job to do tomorrow and I will stay focused on that.

"And I don't worry about what comes next because that is a trap."

Hinlkley's Port are enduring their worst start to a season, five-straight losses.

But ahead of hosting West Coast on Saturday, Hinkley is pragmatic at speculation about his tenure.

"Nah, I'm OK," he said.

"I am a realist and I understand the situation and I understand what football does.

"I said this two weeks ago, I am very much aware of what football is like."

Hinkley admitted distress as Port slipped to 50 points behind Carlton in under two quarters last week.

"I will be honest, the first half against Carlton gave me alarm bells about lots of our football game," he said.

"We sit there and reflect on that and go 'well, that is just so far off what we're capable of'."

Port rallied in the second half but still lost to the Blues by three points, though Hinkley was adamant morale remained strong.

"We do a lot of work over a long period to at times cater for moments when it becomes difficult," he said.

"Because life is not easy, footy is not easy sometimes.

"You have just got to understand that.

"And you have got to be prepared to keep working and the only way you keep working is to stick together, that helps morale on its own.

"There is belief in the group that we can turn and turn this around quickly and get things going."

Outscoring the Blues by nine goals to two in the second half evidenced such belief, Hinkley said.

"We are getting closer," he said.

"We have been getting some people back into the team, been building a bit more.

"At the end of the day, we can only answer those things with a result, we have just got to keep working to get that result.

"Saying that we're closer or not closer, the reality is we are where we are and we just need to deal with what we re doing today."

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