While the pain still lingers, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley won't reopen old wounds ahead of Saturday night's AFL blockbuster against Hawthorn.
The Hawks pipped Port by three points in a preliminary final last year, a result Hinkley refuses to mention to his players in the lead-up to the Adelaide Oval re-match.
"It doesn't get you anywhere. It doesn't change a thing," Hinkley told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
"It's not the thoughts you want to have.
"There's no doubt, and that is the key thing for us, in our finals performances last year we make sure we learn from each of them.
"And the last one, where you get your hardest lesson, you have got to be prepared to learn from it.
"But you just don't go back. Football, everyone talks about it's going to be motivation - it's going to be nothing to do with it once the ball bounces."
Hinkley's sentiments were echoed by his Hawthorn counterpart Alastair Clarkson.
"Lots of things change. It has been six months since that game and there's different personnel in the sides and there's different motivation levels," Clarkson told reporters at Melbourne Airport on Friday.
"You're probably stretching it a bit to use that as a driving factor to get the victory on this occasion.
"Once you run out there, you're probably not thinking too much about what happened six months ago."
Port suffered a match-eve blow with All Australian utility Robbie Gray ruled out because of a calf injury.
But the Power have summoned lead ruckman Matthew Lobbe for his first game this season, having recovered from a thigh injury.
Hinkley is adamant he's not taking a risk by recalling Lobbe without any competitive match as a lead-in.
"We know how important Lobbe is to us, we weren't going to take the risk because of it being a long season," he said.
"We just needed to make sure with the thigh that we got him right. Right now, we're pretty comfortable that he's right."
Hinkley said Hawthorn remain the benchmark despite early claims to the title from Fremantle and Sydney - two clubs Port have already played, and been beaten by.
"I don't think there's too much doubt about that," he said of Hawthorn's status.
"Not much has changed in the first three or four weeks - Freo, Sydney, Hawthorn, they're three talented sides."
Share
