The Power dropped to ninth on the ladder after conceding seven final-quarter goals on the way to a 51-point thumping from the Magpies at the MCG.

Saturday afternoon's 17.13 (115) to 10.4 (64) defeat is Port's fifth loss from six games, continuing a horror run for a team which had looked primed for a top-four finish.

The Power managed just one goal after five minutes of the third quarter and Hinkley openly wondered whether last week's after-the-siren loss to West Coast and a contentious defeat in the Showdown had scarred his players.

"We looked a little bit like a team that's taken a big couple of hits in the last couple of weeks," Hinkley said.

"And when the last hit came today, it didn't take much to knock us over."

The Power must beat Essendon at Adelaide Oval next Friday night and hope either Melbourne or Sydney lose both their remaining games to stand any chance of making the eight.

Hinkley was unwilling to judge the season with a game remaining but forecast a week of soul-searching.

"It's a good question for us to ask ourselves, whether we're up for the challenge and the fight," Hinkley said.

"We have been most of the year but the last four or five weeks we've felt the pinch.

"Today we looked like a team that wasn't ready to keep going. Hopefully that's not the case because we've got a big game next week and we'll see what the ladder looks like at the end of the round and give ourselves every chance."

Missing spearhead Charlie Dixon to a season-ending leg injury, Port looked disorganised up forward against the Magpies and reluctant to take the game on.

The Power's inability to hit the scoreboard has been a major concern and Hinkley said it was up to the club's leaders to take charge.

"We're playing some young blokes up there at the moment who sometimes they get it going, sometimes they don't get it going for you," he said.

"But they certainly don't have to feel that responsibility, it's more that talent at the top end that should feel that responsibility."

Australian Associated Press