THE SUN may be close to setting on his time as senior coach of Port Adelaide, but Ken Hinkley is bullish his side will do everything it can to bank one last win for Travis Boak in what will be his farewell match next Friday night against Gold Coast.

Boak was one of Port Adelaide's best players despite an eventual 54-point loss to Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, with the 37-year-old stalwart due to bow out in front of the Port Adelaide faithful at Adelaide Oval in just under a week's time following a decorated career complete with a club-record 387 games, six seasons as captain, triple All-Australian honours and dual best and fairest awards to boot.

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Hinkley's own tenure at the helm of Port Adelaide will finish on 296 games after being appointed to the role in 2013, however he was happy to focus the conversation towards the departing Boak as the duo prepare for one last appearance.

"For Trav particularly, and clearly my last game as coach at Port Adelaide … it's been a long time coming, but I'm glad it's here now because of the challenges this year has put upon us (and) we can particularly celebrate Trav and I hope that's what (next week) it is," Hinkley said post-game.

"I hope the boys get out there and have a real crack for Trav. Funnily enough for myself, we play the Gold Coast - where I come from - to come to Port. There's something in that which is OK as well.

"I'm really proud of the way we as a footy club, and Trav, myself and everyone involved with our footy have been able to keep our spirits up and our energy up to get to the end of the season with lots of challenges.

"I'm glad it's here. To be honest, I'm sick of the wait. It's been a bit of a battle to get to the end and we've got here now."

The lead-in to next week's finale for Hinkley and Boak isn't coming off the ideal run-up in light of Saturday's nine-goal loss, with Port Adelaide's last win coming in round 18 against West Coast at Adelaide Oval.

Hinkley didn't downplay his side's "shocking start" to the game, which saw Carlton kick the first six goals and had them dominating the centre clearances count 19-7 by the final siren.

"We couldn't get our hands on the ball at the contest, we were just blown away by a side that plays contest really well," Hinkley said.

"We played them only 50-odd days ago and we were actually able to match them in that part of the game. Clearly they learned a little bit from that, they had some personnel that were different, we had some personnel that were different.

"But they just smashed us up around the ball and you can't sugarcoat that. They were just bigger, stronger and better. They were just better, we don't need to make up any fluffy stuff about us other than Carlton belted us."

Carlton's midfield dominance (clearances 41-30) was elevated by the return of Sam Walsh, who accrued 28 disposals and five clearances possessions on return from a foot injury that had sidelined him since round 13.

Harry McKay was equally prolific up forward with an equal career-best seven goals, having netted 12 majors across his past four outings.

"It shows that good players help. You don't have them for a while and then you see the difference they make in your system," Carlton coach Michael Voss said.

"Walshy we've missed, Harry (McKay) we've missed. (Sam) comes out and does what he does … he's our transition mid, the one who gets from inside to out better than anyone.

"We've also got a key forward down there (in Harry) that we haven't seen for a lot of the year and kick seven goals as a key focal point. He's a difference maker for us, your best players have got to be. At the moment I think we're seeing a really good version of Harry.

"Each week, we're just feeling the power of our contest again. It's been a little while since we've probably dominated supply, so to get the territory in the game that we needed and, most importantly, get the scoreboard ticking over was a huge plus out of the game."