Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley during his side’s crushing 79-point loss to Brisbane on the weekend. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES.

More than ever before, it appears as though Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is on borrowed time.

That might sound like an odd statement given the Power are still in the top eight with a positive 8-6 win-loss record, but there comes a defining moment in every coach’s reign where the writing is on the wall for them, and Saturday produced that for Hinkley.

Whichever way you cut it, what transpired against Brisbane at Adelaide Oval was downright ugly for everyone connected to the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Both teams headed into the match with plenty to play for, as the Power (seventh) had designs on re-entering the top four while the Lions (13th) were desperate to stay in touch with the top eight.

But by half-time, you’d be forgiven for thinking Brisbane were the ones eyeing off a top-four spot and Port Adelaide was a game outside the eight.

On a day when the Power were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their sole AFL flag, which they won against the Lions, by bringing back a large amount of premiership players from that famous day and wearing the jumper that was worn in the 2004 grand final, astonishingly, Hinkley’s side couldn’t have looked less interested.

It was one-way traffic in Brisbane’s favour. At one stage Chris Fagan’s side kicked 12 goals in a row as they brutally punished Port Adelaide for its lack of effort and competitiveness.

Brisbane was threatening to win by over 100 points, but the final 79-point margin was still historic as it served as Port Adelaide’s heaviest defeat in 112 non-Showdown matches at Adelaide Oval.

It was also their biggest home loss to a travelling team since 2011 when Collingwood smashed them by 138 points at Football Park in the dark old days of the Matthew Primus era.

The Power produced a performance that bordered on disrespectful to their 2004 heroes, and it all proved too much for a group of incensed Port Adelaide fans at the ground who booed Hinkley from the field after the final siren in what served as a distasteful full stop on a day that started out as a celebration of a huge part of the club’s history, but degenerated into an unmitigated nightmare.

For the first time in a long time, the question can justifiably be asked: are the players still playing for Hinkley?

Only once in Hinkley’s 12-year tenure have the Power had a winning rate above 50 per cent against top-eight teams, and this year, as the top eight currently stands, that trend looks like it’s going to continue as they are 3-3 against such sides after 15 rounds.

For a team that supposedly boasts one of the best midfields in the competition, on differentials they are ranked third-last in the league for contested possessions and ninth for stoppage clearances. On the weekend, the Lions obliterated them by 55 points from stoppage.

But list management is also an area that must be scrutinised.

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In the off-season, the Power rightly recognised key defenders and rucks as the biggest deficiencies on their list, and, thinking they were still in the premiership window after securing another double-chance, albeit being bundled out of the finals in straight sets, they went about fixing that up.

But while the season is still only 14 games old, it already looks as though they have bungled their execution in going about filling those holes by bringing in Esava Ratugolea, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Ivan Soldo and Jordon Sweet in one hit.

They are not the answer. In fact, it will probably go down as one of the most underwhelming recruiting sprees of modern times.

Ratugolea has probably improved this year, but the same cannot be said about the other three, and the weekend’s game perfectly summed up how successful those trades have been.

Zerk-Thatcher was subbed out tactically at half-time with a grand total of six touches to his name, while Soldo was dropped for Sweet who was utterly destroyed by Oscar McInerney.

The Brisbane big man was best on ground with 18 disposals (15 contested), eight clearances, 31 hitouts and a career-high three goals.

Amongst the assets that the Power gave up to secure those four players were two second-round picks and Xavier Duursma, who is having an excellent year with the Bombers.

It meant that the Power didn’t enter last year’s draft until the third round. Now, the Power will say they needed to act fast and get readymade players in to continue their push towards a flag, but none of those recruits were superstars, and unsurprisingly, with nine games to go, the Power are a mid-table club and trending downwards after three straight losses.

While it seems that every area of the club might need to be reviewed in some form or another at season’s end, Hinkley has perhaps been given more chances by any club in the history of the VFL/AFL.

He is into his 12th year without having won a premiership, which is a record for a first-time coach.

In fact, of the three previous record-holders, Neale Daniher, Brad Scott and Nathan Buckley, who all failed to make it through their 10th year in their jobs with Melbourne, North Melbourne and Collingwood respectively, Daniher and Buckley still managed to make it to a grand final. The best Hinkley has been able to do is make it to a preliminary final three times.

Hinkley could very well see out the remainder of the year. After all, the Power are still in the top eight.

But if he fails to take his team to the finals, or oversee a deep run into September, it would be incredibly surprising if he saw out the final year of his contract in 2025.

Hinkley has served his club well, and is only 11 games behind the legendary Mark Williams as the Power’s longest-serving coach, but he may even come to the realisation himself that is footy future is elsewhere next season and beyond.