KEN HINKLEY insists he's feeling more relaxed heading into Port Adelaide's elimination final against Collingwood than he did before the club's round one clash against Melbourne.
Although defeat on Saturday night would spell the end of the Power's season, Hinkley said the pressure on the side in round one was huge.
He described Port as being "on its knees" on the eve of the season, having battled through two horror years and a tumultuous pre-season in which the club appointed a new senior coach and chairman.
"People don't realise how much pressure was on us for round one against Melbourne ... I felt the pressure myself, more than I've felt the pressure going into this game," Hinkley said.
"People might sit back now and say well Melbourne have had a disappointing year, but for our club there was an enormous amount of pressure going into that game.
"It was a very significant day for our football club … we've earned some respect back from the football world, but going there at the start of the year this football club was on its knees.
"We needed to lift."
Hinkley said he took issue with the suggestion the Power had 'nothing to lose' playing a highly fancied Collingwood outfit.
He said Port deserved to be playing on this stage and if the club managed to knock the Magpies out of the premiership race he wouldn't be surprised.
"We've got plenty to lose, we want to keep playing and we want to make our season longer and stronger," Hinkley said.
"If we lose, we lose the opportunity to play the following week … so there's a lot to lose.
"We've probably caused some people to think we've had some upsets during the year … we'll go into this game thinking and believing we can play well enough to win."
While Hinkley had considered the ramifications of defeat, he said the players had managed to avoid such thoughts.
Earlier in the week he urged the playing group to "embrace every second" of the build up to Saturday night's game and Hinkley said they had been preparing with a "no risk" attitude.
"They're feeling like they've wanted to get to here and they're really embracing the opportunity to be here … consequences [of a loss] haven't dawned [on them]," he said.
"[They've] just looked at it as a final, a great opportunity, a chance to go and play at the MCG in September.
"They've been able to keep the elimination part away from their minds a little bit."
The coach admitted Collingwood was a more daunting prospect now than when the Power scored a 35-point win over the Victorian powerhouse in round 14.
He said the Magpies had become a top-four side.
"Since we've played them their form's probably been first class, in fact equal to the top four sides," he said.
"We know they're a really strong football side and that if we don't get near our best we're going to be in trouble."
As for his trick to silencing Collingwood's expected bumper home crowd?
Easy, "keep scoring".
