A SHATTERED Ken Hinkley is "as wounded as I've felt in footy" after Port Adelaide's shocking late-season fadeout, but is determined to flick the Power's switch back on.

The Power were challenging for the top two at 11-4 after 16 rounds, only to lose six of their last seven games to miss the finals.

Friday night's 22-point loss to Essendon at Adelaide Oval ended any slim hope the Power had of featuring in September.

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"It's as wounded as I've felt, I reckon, in my time in footy," Hinkley said.

"I'm not dead and I won't be, but we've copped one as a team and we're in it together.

"It's not just me, it's all the coaches, but gee, I look forward to it, I really look forward to it.

"I won't go down easy."

Hinkley also conceded the football department had "let the club" down.

The 51-year-old has coached the Power for the past six seasons, the highlight being a preliminary final appearance in 2014 along with making the finals in 2013 and last year.

The Power extended Hinkley for another three seasons until the end of 2021 at the end of last year.

He believed they were capable of hitting back quickly next year.

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"Six weeks ago, we were 11-4," Hinkley said.

"We've got to play six more weeks and we could be anything, but we're nothing tonight.

"We're nothing tonight, we've got a lot of work to do."

Hinkley said he welcomed the criticism having seen his side perform strongly for the majority of the season.

"If we as a footy club can't get harder together, we won't get to where we want to go," he said.

"We've shown enough good stuff, that's why people mark us like they do, because people say there's some stuff there that's really good.

"Why do we fall off in big moment? It's been a trend.

"What I know, I know the what.

"I'll do some more work and I'll find some more detail as to why, and then we'll fix it."

WATCH Ken Hinkley's full post-match press conference

Among the disappointment, Hinkley said the emergence of youngsters Kane Farrell and Billy Frampton were positives, while evergreen veteran Justin Westhoff was outstanding this year.

Hinkley didn't think there would be a massive overhaul to the list.

"We've got enough personnel here they're capable to get the job done, we've seen that," he said.