PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has warned his players they need to strike now and can't be content with the prospect of a long premiership window.
The Power sit behind Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans in premiership betting markets this pre-season, having missed a berth in last year's Grand Final by less than a kick.
But with the seventh youngest list in the AFL and a stockpile of exciting talent, they are expected to be a force for longer than their main rivals in 2015.
Hinkley, who is entering his third season as coach, knows his team has entered its premiership window but he doesn't want to contemplate how long it will be open.
"We have got a squad that's young in age perhaps across the competition, but that doesn't give you any guarantees," Hinkley told AFL.com.au.
"I know one guarantee you get – if you turn up and work really hard, you're a chance to challenge every time you go to the starting post.
"We don't want to live thinking is (our window) for the next two years, the next three years, was it for the last three years? We want to live in it right now. We want to challenge."
Hinkley took over at Port Adelaide following a disastrous 2011-12 period that saw the club win a total of just eight games, finishing 16th and 14th.
Crossing from Gold Coast, where he had played a key role developing the Suns' wealth of young talent as an assistant coach, he said the Power’s list was far from exciting to him.
"To be honest, when I first came on board I looked at the list, looked at what the club was doing, and thought there's a lot to do," Hinkley said.
"I wasn't sure of the talent, because from a distance I was at the Gold Coast Suns and I'd been at Geelong, so two different levels.
"I had one great team I'd been a part of, and then a group of 18-year-olds, so the list at Port Adelaide was a little bit unknown.
"I now know how much work has gone into getting that list together, so the previous people have done some great work for the Port Adelaide Football Club."
According to Champion Data, which places players into five talent categories, Port Adelaide has eight players aged 25 or under ranked above average or elite – more than any team in the competition.
Hawthorn and the Swans have 16 players across the top two tiers, but only two and three respectively aged 25 or under.
"On reflection, you look at the list now and people talk about the depth," Hinkley said.
"It's midfield depth, it's young, and it's a really exciting list of players, which is great for a coach and great for a football club if you can keep your depth.
"Hawthorn had a number of players missing through the mid-part of last year but they were still able to position themselves in the top four of the ladder, challenge and win.
"So your depth has got to hold you up when it's going against you."
Ken Hinkley addresses his troops at training. Picture: Getty Images
