Hinkley: The importance of winning in Round 1

How important is a win in the opening rounds?

Getting off to a strong start in the home and away season is obviously important, but as stated by former Port Adelaide head coach Ken Hinkley, starting the season well can – and often times does – reflect what may be to come within the year ahead.

Whether claiming narrow wins, avoiding injuries or winning in the absence of stars, four points in the early stages can work to reflect a side's fortunes ahead of time, as experienced by Hinkley during his 13 years at Port Adelaide.

“You want to start the season well,” Hinkley told SEN’s Whateley.

“There will be a couple of clubs, particularly now, who have got a lot of injuries and will be pretty anxious around what their personnel looks like.

“They will be trying to get away with a win, and they’ll be looking at it slightly differently. ‘If we can win this Round 1 game, that’s going to be great because we know we’re going to get some people back’.

“For most of the other clubs coming in pretty fresh and ready with healthy lists, they are going to be wanting to get away to a win.

“That was something we did really well at Port; in my 13 years, we won 10 of our Round 1 games, which is quite remarkable.

“But also, the three games that we lost, we missed the finals in those years. The three first-round losses we had, 2015, 2022 and 2025, we missed the finals.”

Within those years, Port Adelaide lost to clubs that ended up performing extremely well over the season.

In 2015, Port Adelaide lost by just seven points to Fremantle at Subiaco, with the Power leading at every change before the Dockers mounted a come-from-behind victory. Hinkley's Port went on to miss finals by four points, while the Dockers finished the season as minor premiers.

In 2022, the Power fell to the Brisbane Lions despite taking a 15-point lead into the final term. Scoring just eight points in the last quarter, the Lions would run away with an 11-point victory, kicking off a season that would see the club re-enter the top eight in sixth place. Port Adelaide would miss the eight by two games.

Ken's final season would kick off with his third ever Round 1 loss, demolished by 91 points at the hands of the Magpies in 2025. Collingwood would fall just short of a Grand Final, while Port Adelaide would slip to 13th.

“It was a great indicator for us – we didn’t want to tinker around too much with Round 1, we needed to win it,” Hinkley said.

“When you lose, it puts you behind the eight-ball right from the start.”

The round kicks off with a traditional clash between Carlton and Richmond on Thursday night at the MCG.