Ken Hinkley says he’s not jumping early as Port Adelaide coach as he bears the brunt of the fall out from his heaviest AFL loss.

Hinkley started his 13th, and final, season at Power coach with his biggest defeat, a 91-point drubbing from Collingwood.

But he’s pledged to stay the course before handing over to assistant Josh Carr at season’s end.

“I’m disappointed in a really bad loss but I’m not going to waver,” Hinkley told reporters on Tuesday.

“I am not going to jump to a position that I wasn’t in last Thursday.

“I’m excited by what this team can do. I’m excited by the growth of our team and I’m excited by the direction this footy club is going in.

“And Saturday night makes it hard for everyone to accept that was the right direction right now.

“But before that, it has been pretty good.”

The mounting pressure after just one game appears to be wearing on Hinkley already as he snapped at one journalist who asked about the backlash from fans and calls to hand over the reins to Carr before next season.

“Is that what you’re asking me?” Hinkley said.

“If they are asking that question, they can ask it to me directly. What question do you want to ask me?”

Some pundits and Port fans have questioned the timing of Hinkley’s succession plan with Carr but Hinkley was adamant: “There is absolutely no confusion.

“I have said right from the start, I’ve got plenty of energy for the job.

“Josh and myself, we’ve both know exactly what’s going on, the whole football club knows exactly what’s going on.”

Hinkley called for calm from fans of the Power, who were beaten preliminary finalists last season, while urging them to keep the faith.

“Their responsibility is to go and support their team and I hope they continue to support their team all the way through,” he said.

“Our responsibility internally is to make sure we manage the club to succeed for the future, and that’s what we’ll always do ... look after the club the right way.

“We always do our best to stay together internally because the outside stuff can over-inflate you and it can certainly punch you big time if you let it become too big in your world.”

Hinkley backed his players to respond to their Magpie mauling when they host Richmond on Saturday in what looms as a danger game after the Tigers’ surprise round-one win against Carlton.

“We have to remember this is round one of 23,” Hinkley said.

“And then the reality is, we will have to mark ourselves at the end of the season, not at the start of the season.

“We have to work really hard to turn that result around and we understand what our best football looks like.

“The players know that - the obligation is to perform like that and we get our chance on Saturday.”

Hinkley ruled out mass selection changes but the 58-year-old conceded tweaks to Port’s game style may take time to gel.

“We just have to stick the course that we’re on,” he said.

“We’re playing slightly different because our personnel is slightly different, we have to make those slight adjustments.

“Every team in the competition have to play with the list you have available ... our list is different than what it has been in the past.

“And we look forward to the opportunity for that team and that list to be a very, very good AFL footy team.”