Port Adelaide transformed from AFL basket case to finals giant-killer Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak. IT was the year Port Adelaide transformed from AFL basket case to respected giant-killer. In one season under rookie coach Ken Hinkley, new chairman David Koch, a revamped board, the strong leadership of chief executive Keith Thomas and a master fitness coach, the Power went from a team making headlines for all the wrong reasons to the league's Cinderella story of 2013. Port rose from 14th in 2012 to fifth this year, making the finals for the first time since 2007. Suddenly a club which appeared on its knees just a year ago has key players falling over each other to secure their long-term futures at Alberton while it has launched an ambitious campaign targetting 50,000 members for the first time. Wednesday, January 30, Alberton After rejecting a big money offer to return to Victoria to join Geelong, ace midfielder Travis Boak was charged with leading Port into a new era, replacing highly-respected veteran Dom Cassisi as skipper. Boak immediately won the respect of his teammates, club supporters and the media with the way he carried himself on and off the field. He enjoyed a career-best season, led the club to the finals for the first time in six years and has the playing group united and determined to create a dynasty of success. Sunday, March 31, MCG The Power's season of hope got the early boost it needed with Ken Hinkley's men stunning Melbourne at the MCG in their premiership season opener. Port triumphed by 79 points with new skipper Travis Boak and Hamish Hartlett dominating and Jay Schulz kicking four goals and taking the mark of the year. The Power - which won just five games in 2012 - quickly showed it was not a one-hit wonder, winning its first five matches, including triumphing against the Crows in Showdown XXXIV in round three. Power young gun Ollie Wines celebrates his first AFL win. Port jumped all over Echuca hard nut Ollie Wines when he was surprisingly still available with its first selection, No. 7 overall, at the 2012 national draft. In his first game against Melbourne at the MCG, Wines showed why coach Ken Hinkley described him as "the type of person you want to build a football club around." The strong-bodied midfielder took no time showing how good he was, winning 24 disposals, a game-high 16 contested possessions and earning the round one AFL Rising Star nomination. In his first season, Wines played every game, averaged 19 disposals and finished third in Rising Star voting. A star was born. April 14, April 27, June 8, August 4, AAMI Stadium The appointment of world-renowned fitness expert Darren Burgess as high performance manager paid immediate dividends, with Port running out matches so strongly it overran teams in final quarters. There were several stunning comeback wins at home, including two against the Crows and one each against West Coast, which it trailed by 41 points, and Sydney as the Power lived up to its 2013 "never ever give up" slogan. The Power's fighting spirit had been questioned in previous seasons but not this one,. Wingard celebrates a goal during Showdown XXXV. Just when fans didn't think things could get much better for Port in its season of redemption, they were sent to football heaven. The Power produced the greatest late fightback in Showdown history, stunning archrival Adelaide in the final Showdown at AAMI Stadium. With the game seemingly dead and buried, Port dug deep to storm home from 20 points down 22 minutes into the final term to clinch an incredible victory. After former Bomber Angus Monfries - a revelation in his first season at the Power - kept the team in the game with an amazing left-footed goal which bounced at right angles, second-year midfielder Chad Wingard proved the hero. Wingard kicked five goals, including the matchwinner with 28 seconds left which virtually guaranteed Port a finals berth and put a nail in the Crows' finals coffin. Power defender Jasper Pittard in action during the second elimination final against Collingwood. Friday, September 6, MCG Most pundits thought Port would be satisfied at just making the finals and that it would be one and done in September. Instead the club pulled off one of the great finals upsets, coming from behind to beat Victorian powerhouse Collingwood at the home of football, the MCG. Given little chance of defeating the finals-hardened Magpies on their own turf, the young, inexperienced Power side played like Gladiators to swarm all over Nathan Buckley's team in the final quarter to win by 24 points. Brad Ebert, Tom Logan and Chad Wingard starred as Port won a final for the first time since the 2007 preliminary final thrashing of North Melbourne. But delight turned to despair for the Power the following week when it let a 23-point half-time lead evaporate in the third quarter against Geelong before losing by 16 points. Monday, September 16, Melbourne The Power's improvement was highlighted by the club having its first two All-Australian selections since its last grand final year in 2007. It had gone five long years without having a player picked in the elite side but Travis Boak and Chad Wingard changed all that. Second-year sensation Wingard was named in a forward pocket and Boak on the interchange bench after career-best seasons. Wingard kicked 43 goals and averaged 21 disposals while Boak averaged 25 possessions and booted 20 majors. Power young gun Chad Wingard accepts his best and fairest award. Saturday, September 21, Adelaide Entertainment Centre When GWS overlooked Chad Wingard with the first five picks at the 2011 national draft, the Power couldn't believe its luck, quickly pouncing on the SA under-18 captain at pick six. Its faith in the supremely-talented onballer/small forward was quickly rewarded when Wingard followed his All-Australian selection with the John Cahill Medal as Port club champion in just his second year at the club. Wingard polled 284 votes to edge Travis Boak (266) with four-times champion Kane Cornes third on 221. Tuesday, September 17, Alberton, and Thursday, November 14, Melbourne One favourite son returned while a key coach departed. Port was overjoyed to have Phil Walsh - one of the masterminds of its 2004 premiership - return to the club as a senior assistant after he spent five years at West Coast. But while it was still celebrating Walsh's signing, Ken Hinkley's right-hand man, Alan Richardson, controversially quit the club to take up the senior coaching role at St Kilda. Richardson - the Power's coaching and strategy director - joined the Saints three days after re-committing to Port. His sudden about-face prompted chairman David Koch to angrily vow to fight to keep the contracted Richardson before eventually relenting. Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley with Jay Schulz, Jake Neade, Hamish Hartlett, Brad Ebert and Travis Boak at Adelaide Oval. December 16-20, Alberton In a sign of just how far Port had come in a year, five key players committed their futures to the club, signing long-term deals a year before they were due to fall out of contract. Ace key forward Jay Schulz started the ball rolling as the Power promoted its "five days of Christmas" campaign, extending his contract by a year to the end of the 2015 season. Jake Neade and Hamish Hartlett (two years), Brad Ebert (three) and Travis Boak (four) quickly followed suit in laying the foundation for on-field success. Their re-signings added to the key off-season acquisitions of midfielders Jared Polec from Brisbane and Matthew White (Richmond), fuelling optimism that Port can make the leap from finals combatant to flag contender.