Power coach Ken Hinkley conceded the Swans were just too good in Friday night's preliminary final at the SCG.
The constant midfield surging of Isaac Heeney, Errol Gulden and Chad Warner was back to it's brutal best, overwhelming Port Adelaide on all lines and driving them through to the fifth grand final berth under John Longmire's tenure.
Prepped for one of the biggest games of his own coaching career, Ken Hinkley was left reflecting on the opportunities that could have been, particularly with more potency in the air inside 50.
"Sydney were just better tonight... they were more polished than us," Hinkley conceded.
"We gave them great looks, ridiculous looks at times."
"It was a game of efficiency, they were just too clean when they had their chances. We were very much the opposite.
"We just didn't have enough weapons to cause some problems in the front half."
As is now an annual event, the pressure will once again mount on the Port Adelaide coach , who was once again able to lift his players to perform well enough to reach the penultimate stage, but no further.
"It's disappointing. I thought as a club, we stuck together pretty well through the whole year and we gave ourselves a chance again," Hinkley reflected.
"I understand that the story will be around we failed to get there. I think we had a decent crack at it.
"We understand the storylines that go with my position. It's part of the job. I'm okay with that. I can deal with that. I don't necessarily enjoy it, but the reality is it's part of what I do and if I can't cope then I shouldn't be here."
Optimistic of a return to the top, Hinkley noted the age demographic of his playing group, providing some excitement for what's to come but a reality check on what's missing; premiership DNA.
While they need to bolster their key forward stocks, their flakey defence and defensive accountability through their midfield, the senior coach remains encouraged by what he has as the club venture through another off-season acquisition period.
"They do tend to come back more often than not," he noted.
"Every season you get a chance to improve your list... I think we're one of the younger teams in the finals this year.
"There's some real positives around what we've done this year. Right now it's hard to talk about the positives though."
Once again questions have come on the club's use of the interchange, with Zak Butters beginning the second half with a lengthy period on the sidelines.
While not as bewildering as holding back a fresh Jason Horne-Francis from wreaking havoc at the opening bounce of a final, you still want your best troopers on the ground to begin the biggest half of the season trailing by four goals.
"Just a standard part of the way we rotate our players. It's actually not a question for us to even worry about to be honest. We rotate our players regularly in different ways and we do that pretty successfully most of the time," the Power coach explained.
"When you lose a game, it's a reasonable thing to half point out. I think it's a little unfair to point out sometimes."
As the Power enter what is set to be another off-season of change, the resilience of the playing group, coaching staff and Board will be tested again, as the external eye zooms closer into what Port Adelaide plan to achieve in 2025, and who will steer the ship to take them there.
"Footy tests you mentally and physically... I have no doubt they'll come back and work really hard."
