PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley never doubted his young team could rise to the occasion of an elimination final, despite few football followers giving the Power much hope of beating Collingwood on Saturday night.
The Power's upset 24-point win at the MCG propelled them into a semi-final showdown with Geelong next week, continuing an incredible season that has defied the odds.
"I had an enormous amount of belief in the group – I knew they would come and give their best," Hinkley said.
"They had a really strong week at training [and] they weren't worried about the fact it was an elimination final.
"That wasn't in their minds, I don't reckon – it was more about an opportunity.
"As has been the case all year, we've been able to step up ... tonight was another fantastic performance."
Hinkley praised the growing maturity of his young group for withstanding Collingwood surges in both the third and fourth quarters and then hitting back.
He also lauded his backline, which as a group restricted the Magpies to just 63 points – its third-lowest score of the season.
(Collingwood's lowest score of 2013, 51, was against the Power in round 14.)
Alipate Carlile beat Travis Cloke, restricting him to just two goals, while Ben Reid went goalless.
"I thought our back six were incredible," Hinkley said.
"I do belt them a bit, that group, because I expect them to be the strength and hold us together as a team, and tonight they were sensational.
"'Bobby' Carlile was first class.
"We were able to do what we wanted to do most of the time and do that to our advantage, and that took some really brave calls from them as a group of players."
Now through to the second week of the finals, the first-year coach admitted the team's progress had exceeded the expectations he had when he took the job, given the Power won only five-and-a-half games in 2012, en route to finishing 14th.
He said the club's new-found winning culture first emerged as far back as last November's trip to England, when it beat the Western Bulldogs in an exhibition match.
"I can't hide from the fact that I probably didn't expect to be here," Hinkley said.
"When the opportunity came to take the job, I didn't think this was probably going to happen.
"But I like to win everything.
"It doesn't matter what I do, I want to try and win, and I said that to the boys way back in London – we want to win everything we play in.
"And if you do that, you get a good attitude, I reckon."
Port Adelaide will again start as huge underdogs against Geelong next Friday night, but Hinkley said his players would approach the contest with the same belief they had against the Magpies.
"We know how proud they are as a club, but we're going to come here and we're going to expect to play well," he said.
