PORT Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff has thrown his support behind coach Ken Hinkley as the Power aim to keep their finals hopes alive.
Port's chances could be boosted with the possible return of co-captain Ollie Wines from a fractured thumb for Saturday's crucial clash with Essendon at Marvel Stadium.
Ollie Wines is in the mix to return against Essendon. Picture: AFL Photos
Hinkley – who is contracted until the end of 2021 – has come under scrutiny with the 10th-placed Power having lost four of their past five games to remain one game and percentage adrift of the top eight.
If they miss the finals, it would be the fourth time in the past five seasons.
"I know the playing group has complete faith in him," Rockliff said.
"He's hard when he has to be hard, and he's fair when he has to be fair, but I think all the guys know where they stand with him, and you can't ask for anything else than that from a senior coach.
"A coach that cares about you, but will tell you how it is and have those conversations with you."
Wines and Rockliff hunt the ball during the most recent Showdown. Picture: AFL Photos
Rockliff said he hadn't paid any attention to comments from Power chairman David Koch, who said missing the finals would be a failure and all positions would be reviewed at the end of the season.
"You don't really get caught up in that," Rockliff said.
"If you catch yourself reading it, you can start to buy into it and change your mindset off what your job is and what your focus is.
"Our job is to train really hard, prepare ourselves so we can perform on the weekend and walk away with the four points."
While he's yet to resume full contact training, Wines had his thumb strapped, but without a protective guard to allow him to complete ball work on Wednesday.
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"He felt pretty comfortable out there, so whether he's ready to go or not, probably depends how it pulls up tomorrow," Rockliff said.
"Ollie's an outstanding player, brings plenty of run and grunt work inside for us.
"Anytime we have Ollie out there, we're a better team."
Seeing utility Jack Watts jogging laps was a welcome sight as he increases his workload coming back from a horrific broken leg and ankle in the round two win against Carlton.
"He's started to run and join in a little bit, so hopefully his rehab continues to progress in the right direction and no more hiccups," Rockliff said.
"The positive thing is he's starting to run and get movement in that ankle."
