PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley admits he over complicated things for his players in 2015 as a season of high expectations ended in disappointment.

After entering the year as one of the premiership favourites, Port's season unraveled with seven losses in 10 games mid-season and a late rally was not enough for them to make the finals.

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It was a far cry from the Power's brilliant 2014 season that saw them fall a kick away from the Grand Final, and Hinkley said the club had moved away from what led to that success.   

"As coaches we over-complicated things, we were trying to identify too much and we lost sight of what was the key ingredient," Hinkley told The Age.

"We were trying to fix too many things. We were trying to play a bigger game and it was not needed. 

"You always have to tinker a bit, but my job is to make the players perform at their best and I didn't do that." 

Hinkley took a two-week break at Hamilton Island after the season and was influenced by two leadership tomes – How The Mighty Fall by business consultant Jim Collins and legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul Of Success. 

They underlined his belief that the coaching staff had overcomplicated its directions to the players after coming so close to a Grand Final. 

"We didn't talk about it afterwards but I think we were pumped up by some of the exciting stuff from the previous season," he said. 

"I overlooked some detail and tricked my head a bit."

Perhaps the Power's biggest mistake was taking a breath after getting through a nightmare start to the season with a 3-2 record.

From there they suffered three straight losses to West Coast, the Brisbane Lions and Richmond.  

"I allowed some breathing space and maybe that rubbed off on the team ... it just shows you can never let up even for a second," Hinkley said.

"If you don't start with yourself then you can't question other people."