AFL great Leigh Matthews has criticised Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley‘s post-match comments as the Power reach a crisis point with their finals hopes slipping away. After the game the Port Adelaide coach was defiant in his post-match press conference, saying he won’t surrender despite being bood by Power fans following their record 79-point loss to Brisbane.

Sections of the Port crowd roundly booed Hinkley when he was shown on Adelaide Oval’s big screens. And while Hinkley admitted the fan reaction wasn’t fun post-match, he conceded it’s the “reality” of his job before taking a swipe at Port’s squad, stat it is “not one of the best teams in the competition”.

We sit below that (the best teams in the AFL) — everyone agrees,” he said. “We have to keep working to change what our results have been to make sure they turn around and become what we need them to be.” Hinkley’s comments directly contradict what he said in March when he declared that Port’s squad is “the best list that we’ve had in a good period of time”.

While Port’s season is far from a write-off just yet, the Power’s third straight loss sees them fall to seventh and on the cusp of dropping out of a finals spot. And many are questioning if Hinkley is the man to bring success to the club given he holds the record for most VFL/AFL games coached without reaching a grand final – 262 – with a winning percentage of 59.7.