The Port Adelaide board's support for long-time coach Ken Hinkley is wavering, reports Tom Browne.

The development comes as Port midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper gets thrown on the trade table after three seasons at the club.

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Hinkley is contracted for 2020 but is aware he needs to make the finals to have any chance of keeping his job.

Port have finished outside the top eight in four of the past five seasons despite recruiting Tom Rockliff, Steven Motlop, Jack Watts, Ryan Burton and Scott Lycett in recent trade periods.

With no finals wins since 2014, the board appears to feel Hinkley's time is almost up.

"One view is that's particularly unfair given the fact I don't think they don't have all the money or the profit to pay the full salary cap or the full football department cap," Browne said.

"The players by and large like Hinkley but the board thinks, in light of the investment in a lot of these big-name players, that they should be making the finals."

"He's going to face a bit of a struggle."

Travis Boak said this week he had no doubt Hinkley was the right man to coach Port into the future.

"He's an outstanding coach ... we're all 100 per cent behind him and love him as a person, as a coach, as a leader, as a mentor," he said.

"He's definitely the right man to take us forward."

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Meanwhile, Powell-Pepper will be put on the trade table after the season.

The 21-year-old played all 22 games in his debut year.

Dropped multiple times this season, he has failed to match the heights he reached in 2017 and looks set to find a new home.