Hubbard had given the then 29-year-old Hinkley his first coaching job at the Mortlake Football Club immediately after he retired from playing at Geelong.

The ambition then harboured by the Port Adelaide coach was to return home to coach Camperdown - an ambition he achieved along with two premierships - but it was the friendship that evolved from that first job that proved life-changing.

Port was one week into its significantly redesigned pre-season when Hinkley departed for nine days of unscheduled leave ??? "I was needed elsewhere," he said.

Jan Hubbard, herself driving home from a theatre outing in Melbourne when she received the call, and her three sons and the popular couple's extended community are still coming to terms with the shock of Hubbard's fatal heart attack at just 56.

Delivering Hubbard's eulogy Hinkley left no one at Mortlake's Soldiers Memorial Hall in doubt as to the character of his friend. Nor to the starring role he played in the AFL coach's life.

To the point where, Hinkley said in his tribute, if you ever saw his head down in the coaches' box during a game it was generally because he was reading a text message of advice or support from Hubbard.

This week, on the eve of Thursday night's clash with Hawthorn, Hinkley revealed the loss had jolted him into redefining his own circumstances with stark clarity.

"I used to think the worst thing that could happen to me was losing my job as a football coach and not working in footy," he said. "It's a goddamn game. It might be a great game with 1500 media covering it and a game we all love, but it's a game.

"The reminders are a terrible, terrible thing. In your own stupid head it does seem so all-consuming and the job is such a terribly all-consuming thing and then the truck hits you and you realise and it's such a terrible reminder.

"Whatever happens to me I go home and my partner is there and the people I love are there and who love me. That's what's important. You shouldn't need to remind yourself of that."

In death, as in life, Hubbard - a greyhound breeder, owner and trainer who had established his dream of a small but successful home complex between Mortlake and Warrnambool - has continued to guide the fortunes of the 50-year-old coach he also referred to as his "second wife".

"There's life and death," said Hinkley, "and there's real life and death. Football feels like the real life and death sometimes but it's not. In quite a short period of time we lost Phil [Walsh] and then Jarman's [Impey's] dad and then I lost my best mate in November at a time when maybe it felt like it was all caving in. That was when I realised there was more to life than football."

Having come close but missed out on senior jobs at Richmond, St Kilda and Geelong, his interview panels noted the well-rounded, non-obsessive nature of someone they pegged as a strong family man. But AFL coaching can change that.

"I'd always prided myself on being aware of what was important in life," said Hinkley.

"And I think I've been careful not to put my family second. [But] no matter how often you say that then you take on the senior job and you don't realise how it all can close in on you at times. I've always said I'm a coach who cares but maybe I'm realising there's more to be done there."

Although he has been reluctant until now to publicly discuss the impact of Hubbard's death out of respect for the feelings of Jan and her sons, Hinkley's inner sanctum at Port and notably his players were well aware of his grief.

"They knew what I was going through," he said. "I talk about it all the time to them and try to explain that however tough things might be at certain times there is so much more to their lives."

Similarly where Hinkley's own immediate future is concerned he says he is completely comfortable to wait until the end of this season to discuss his future at the club. "I've got nothing to worry about," he said. "It doesn't worry me. That sort of stuff always gets taken care of."

Despite some frustratingly narrow losses and sitting outside the eight, Port, one game behind the pack due to its early post-Shanghai bye, will move to fourth should it defeat the Hawks.

Although the pre-season pressure came in the context of the personal tragedy the pressure was there.

Chief executive Keith Thomas confirmed this week the club would not budge on reviewing Hinkley's future and the possibility of a contract extension until the end of the season.

"We're in a dogfight," said Thomas. "It's a dogfight that's going to roll out until the end of the year. The best footy almost every club is playing is really compelling and enticing and dangerous.

"We feel as though this year is going to take everything we've got and we don't feel comfortable. Ken and I do feel comfortable though that we have a great relationship and we're just hell bent on getting though every week and waiting until the end of the season."

Thomas said he was disappointed chairman David Koch's comments earlier this year about not accepting another poor season "became about Ken. Our chairman's comments were absolutely consistent with the tone of the football club. It wasn't about Ken.

"Unfortunately the reality is Ken became the focus of it. He never complained about it but he didn't like it. He had to absorb the negatives but the tone we were setting was club wide."

Said Hinkley: "Absolutely I felt pressure. It was absolutely clear. I do own it and I don't have a problem with owning it. I've been coaching for 21 years and I'm pleased I've never allowed the negative pressure to overwhelm me or affect me".

Among the raft of changes after last year's disappointments was the acknowledgement that the players did not need another brutal pre-season but a more skills-based program.

Hinkley and his team have put in place a game plan better suited to the players along with an outsourced leadership program removed in practical terms from the coach and encouraging Travis Boak and his senior on-field leaders to take more control during games.

That, coupled with the ascension of Matthew Nicks to senior assistant, has removed some of the external distractions from Hinkley who also has had the luxury this season of a largely healthy list and the return of Paddy Ryder and defensive stalwarts Tom Jonas and Jack Hombsch.

Hinkley and his wife Donna are now entrenched in Adelaide.

"Footy's taken us to some strange places but it's given us some great experiences," said Hinkley. "How could I not love Port Adelaide? This is a great club and we've achieved some great progress since 2013."

Of this season Hinkley said: "We're not where we want to be ... but we've narrowed our focus to get the details right - the way we're defending is a focus - and we're not trying to fix everything.

"We've made some changes and allowed the players to own the direction of where they want to go."

Of the bigger picture, he said: "For two years we exceeded expectations but even when we didn't get near where we should have and made finals we won 12 and 10 games in those years. I'll go down swinging either way."