Small step in right direction for Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley CONTENTED: Power coach Ken Hinkley at three-quarter time in the big win against Melbourne. VICTORIOUS Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says his team has taken its first steps towards regaining the respect of the AFL. Kicked around for five years since last making the finals in 2007, the Power yesterday opened its 2013 premiership campaign with a ruthless 79-point demolition of Melbourne at the MCG. New coach Hinkley - stressing how proud he was of his young team - said the win was the first "small statement" in turning around the club's fortunes. "I hope we did," said Hinkley after leading Port to its biggest win since the 87-point 2007 preliminary final smashing of North Melbourne. Every time you go out you want to send a small statement or take a small step in the right direction for where you are trying to go as a football club. We know there will be days when it won't go as good as it went today for us, but as long as we come out and play in the same way, with the same effort, then I think we'll end up getting some of that respect back. There was just good method with the way the boys went about playing the game and in the end they got the reward. Former Fitzroy and Geelong star Hinkley - who has waited until the age of 46 to get his first shot at AFL coaching - lavishly praised his young side and the steps the entire club had taken during summer to turn its flagging fortunes around. "I'm really proud of the whole club, the win is really important for the whole club," he said. We've had to build up from a pretty low base and we've had that summer where we've got a few things going the right way with Renault (major sponsor), the re-signing of our boys (Jackson Trengove, Alipate Carlile, John Butcher and Andrew Moore) only a week ago and then to come out and play the way we played today, that just backs all that stuff up. That's important I reckon, because on-field is the most important part of any football club - and we got that right today. Significantly, Port didn't just win, it bolted in, turning its only MCG match this season into a walk in the park. While the Demons were embarrassingly poor, the way the Power relentlessly kept forging ahead and stretching out its lead showed the group has some mental toughness about it. "That's what we expect, we expect to play from the start to the finish," perfectionist Hinkley said matter-of-factly. Probably the by-product of that is that you win every quarter. That will not always be the case, but you still want to be able to play the same way, in the same style. But I just loved their effort, I loved the way they just kept at it and kept going. They were just relentless with the way they went after the ball and with what they were trying to achieve. Melbourne coach Mark Neeld praised Port's competitive spirit and noted how his side couldn't match it for "aggression and speed." "They were very good," Neeld said. The Power reported no injuries from the clash and will consider former captain Dom Cassisi, full back Alipate Carlile - who missed the Demons game with hamstring soreness - and forwards Robbie Gray and John Butcher for promotion for Saturday night's home opener against GWS.