Port take aim at 'not great ground' after injury woes
Power trio Sam Powell-Pepper, Esava Ratugolea and Dante Visentini have been ruled out for the rest of the AFL season after all suffered injuries in Saturday night's brave loss against reigning premiers Brisbane.
Powell-Pepper requires a reconstruction on his left knee after suffering the same injury to his right knee in round eight last year.
Defender Ratugolea will be sidelined by a hamstring tear and young ruckman Visentini by an ankle injury.
In a tight loss against the Lions at the Gabba in 2022, Port also suffered four injuries after leading at three-quarter-time.
"It's not a great ground, we're not going back there again," Hinkley quipped to reporters on Tuesday.
"Can we change that ground?
"When are they going to pull it down and build something there for the Olympics?
"Sooner the better. Sorry, Brisbane."
AFL games will be played at the Gabba until 2032 before the Lions move to the new stadium at Victoria Park that will host the Brisbane Olympics.
Brisbane have had their own issues at their home ground with star defender Jack Payne recently suffering a season-ending knee injury at the ground.
Forward Linc McCarthy ruptured his ACL for a second time in 12 months at the Gabba earlier this year, this time at training after hurting his knee during a chaotic game against Gold Coast in May 2024.
In Brisbane's Opening Round match against Carlton last year, Lions defender Keidean Coleman and Blues veteran Sam Docherty both went down with serious knee injuries.
Powell-Pepper underwent surgery on Monday, as the forward aims to play a role in Port's 2026 campaign.
The loss against the Lions finished Port's chances of reaching the finals in Hinkley's last season as coach.
"He's had his surgery, it's done," Hinkley said of Powell-Pepper.
"He's such a great person, a powerful person. He'll get after his rehab.
"My message to him was I look forward to see you playing your next game.
"By the start of next season, he won't be far away, I wouldn't have thought, from playing football.
"The mentoring stuff will come in the pre-season.
"He does that naturally so it's not like he needs a new role and show his teammates why it's going to be good when he gets back."
Forwards Ollie Lord and Jeremy Finlayson, who are both coming off five-goal hauls in the SANFL, will be considered for recalls against West Coast this Sunday.
"We've played five debutants, we're always exploring our list, but we won't explore our list at the expense of our best performance," Hinkley said.
"We're in the business of still winning football as much as we possibly can until the end of the year.
"The club, the coaches are all on the same page with that."
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