Coach Ken Hinkley says it's futile looking back at Port Adelaide's recent finals flops or even his club's watershed moment in Geelong this year.
Hinkley says everything that has gone before the Power's qualifying final against the Cats on Thursday night at Adelaide Oval is now irrelevant.
That includes Port's straight-sets exit from last year's play-offs; their two-game winning streak against Chris Scott's team in qualifying finals; and the Power's breakthrough win in Geelong in May.
"None of it means anything, to my mind - absolutely zero," Hinkley told reporters on Wednesday.
"Whether we played them at Geelong, what our record is like against them in qualifying finals - any of those things don't matter because it's a whole new year."
The Power recalled key forward Charlie Dixon, who missed the last home-and-away game due to illness, and Quinton Narkle.
The duo replace Kane Farrell (hamstring) and axed ruckman Dante Visentini, while Geelong named an unchanged side.
Hinkley's charges downed the Cats by six points in round 10 to log the Power's first win in Geelong in 17 years.
And Port have beaten the Cats in their past two qualifying final match-ups, in 2021 and 2020.
But Hinkley also isn't remotely interested in how the next month will define him and his club - in his 12th season as Port coach, he holds the VFL/AFL record for most games coached without reaching a grand final, 271.
"I don't write those stories," he said.
"We give ourselves a chance. We're really confident, we're ready for the next month - that's what we know and we hope it goes for a month.
"But the reality is that's to play out. We're not going to get trapped into the whole month thing. We're going to get trapped in this week."
But Hinkley was adamant Port were better prepared for these finals than last year when, beset by injuries, they crashed out with losses in a qualifying final and a semi-final.
"We're in a really healthy position," he said.
"We're a mature team. We have earnt our right to be second on the ladder ... we're ready for this type of game.
"Not just last year, when you look at our journey, four or five years of experience ... we can't look back.
"But we can understand that we've learnt all the way through that journey and that our journey has been one of consistently being, at this point, giving ourselves a chance.
"We're really proud of that and we should be proud of that."
