There is a popular meme that has done the rounds online for a number of years called "Digging for Diamonds".

The graphic depicts two miners hacking their way through an underground tunnel in search of diamonds. 

One of the miners has gotten extremely close to the treasure he is hunting but has turned around, looking despondent, while the other is slightly behind him and still persisting with the task.

The message is this: Sometimes people quit just before they are about to reach the success they so desperately crave, so you should not give up. 

Port Adelaide's powerbrokers must be feeling torn between the two miners after yet another preliminary final loss under Ken Hinkley. 

Friday night's 36-point loss to the Swans was the fourth occasion during Hinkley's tenure when the Port fell at the penultimate hurdle, with the last three coming in the space of five seasons.

Hinkley now holds the VFL/AFL record of coaching the most games at a club without ever reaching a grand final. 

The 57-year-old is combative and wears his heart on his sleeve, as shown by his exchange with the Hawthorn players last week, and he once again got on the offensive after the finals loss.

"But it's not one person. This is a whole-of-club thing that goes on," Hinkley said.

"If we had got through tonight, it wouldn't have been me, and if we didn't get through tonight, it'd be us.

"I do understand that, as the head coach, you cop the brunt of that and I'm OK with copping the brunt.

"But the reality is, you can't do this without a full club. You just can't."

You've got to wonder whether that message was directed at the press and the public or his bosses. If it was the latter, will Port's brains trust appreciate being called out like that? 

Hinkley is right in the sense of him being an easy target. He doesn't help himself with his candid nature at times. However, Port's finals campaign was doomed this time around.

While the result was the same as 2020 and 2021, this year's preliminary exit shouldn't come as much of a surprise. 

In essence, Port's finals campaign was doomed when it lost Dan Houston, one of its two All-Australians, to suspension on the eve of the finals. There was a reason why the club fought for Houston so vigorously at the tribunal. 

Houston's loss was exacerbated when Port's other dynamic back-half distributor, Kane Farrell, went down with a hamstring injury in the final match of the home and away season.

Already down one All-Australian, Port might as well have been down two, with Zak Butters well below his usual prolific best after suffering a rib injury against Geelong in the qualifying final. Butters courageously played in both the semifinal and the preliminary final, but looked a shadow of himself. 

Todd Marshall, who looked ready to seize control of the forward line in 2022 with 45 goals, suffered an interrupted year and had his finals campaign ruined by another concussion.

And yet, there was Port Adelaide in the final four once again. The entire AFL world expected them to get steamrolled by Hawthorn in the semifinal last week, and they delivered one of the most courageous finals wins in the club's 27-year AFL history.

Against all odds and up against the best team in the competition in the preliminary final, Port put themselves in a position to pull off another upset as well.

Hinkley's men powered to a 26-9 clearance lead through two quarters at the SCG and also led the inside 50s, but were punished by a clinical Swans side which booted 9.1 in the first half. After playing a half where they deserved to at least level, if not lead, Port found themselves trailing by 25 points, a lead which proved to be insurmountable in the end. 

The preliminary final performance was essentially Hinkley's entire Port tenure in a microcosm — so much good without the final result. 

Despite cries from those outside the club to dismiss Hinkley, the decision isn't as easy as Port's recent finals record may suggest it should be. 

The veteran coach is not just liked by his players, he is loved, perhaps even adored. 

Often, the rationale behind getting rid of a coach after a lengthy tenure is the need for the playing group to have a new voice. 

Media reports preceding a coach's sacking suggest they have "lost the players". If Hinkley has lost his players, there are certainly no signs of it.

His captain, Connor Rozee, has spoken of him glowingly time and time again, as has Butters. Hinkley also appears to have a solid relationship with Jason Horne-Francis, likely a future captain of the club. 

"Enormous respect and admiration for Ken. He's done so much for our football club," Rozee said upon his return to Adelaide following the preliminary final.

"He's doing something right to get us into a play in three prelims now."

Although it'll never match the feeling of winning a premiership, reaching a preliminary final is certainly nothing to be sneezed at. Just ask anyone over at Essendon, which currently has the league's most infamous finals drought, whether they'd like to be in a prelim. 

On the flip side, questions will be asked about whether Hinkley's game plan is sound enough to deliver a premiership. 

During the home and away season, more often than not Hinkley's side will win the talent match-up on the field, but is he savvy enough to win the battle of the coaches boxes in a big final when the talent evens out? The jury is still out. 

Against Sydney, as Port continued to bang the ball into a makeshift forward line of Esava Ratugolea and a well-past-his-prime Charlie Dixon to no avail, there was little adjustment.

Could Hinkley have shaken the game up by swinging Aliir Aliir, who was being manned by a much smaller Luke Parker, up forward for a quarter after half-time? Would it have even made a difference? These are the questions Port will be asking. 

Hinkley recently overtook Mark Williams as Port's coaching games record holder, and it's worth comparing his current finals plight to that of Williams's Port teams in the early 2000s.

Williams's Port side was regularly one of the best home and away teams between 2001 and 2003, yet did not make a grand final. It was bounced in straight sets in 2001 before being overmatched in preliminary finals in the following two seasons.

Port persisted and eventually broke through to claim the 2004 premiership, putting an end to Brisbane's hopes of winning four straight flags. Does the current brass at the club look back to look towards the future?

Port's list profile compares favourably to the 2004 squad. Williams's premiership side was the second-oldest in the AFL and the fifth-most experienced. Hinkley's side ranks 11th in the AFL in terms of age and ninth in terms of games played.

Rozee, Butters and Horne-Francis, the club's three crown jewels, all still have their best years ahead of them. So too should the likes of Jase Burgoyne, Miles Bergman and Mitch Georgiades, who all impressed during these finals. 

Horne-Francis, in particular, is only scratching the surface of his game-breaking abilities. He is the type of player who will be able to single-handedly swing finals losses into wins in the coming years.

There are also examples in the last two premiers that are worth considering for Port.

After winning a premiership as a rookie coach in 2011, Chris Scott had also become familiar with exiting in the preliminary finals, after falling at the same hurdle in 2013, 2016 and 2019. Scott's team was beaten in the 2020 decider as well, but despite similar outside pressure, the Cats stuck with their man when other clubs might have buckled and eventually broke through to win the 2022 premiership.

Collingwood also reached a grand final under Nathan Buckley, coming within a kick of winning it all in 2018. Buckley's side was beaten in preliminary finals in 2012 and 2019 before his 218-game tenure as coach came to an end midway through 2021. Buckley was eventually replaced by Craig McRae, who won the premiership in his second season.

These examples simply go to show Port that both results can yield premierships. 

The question is whether the club continues to trust Hinkley to lead the hunt for the diamonds or whether it is time for the beloved but embattled coach to hand the pickaxe to someone else.