The AFL honeymoon is over for Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.
Sunday’s scrappy 16.13 (109) to 14.7 (91) loss to Carlton at Etihad Stadium was the Power’s third straight, after starting the season with five wins.
Former skipper Domenic Cassisi went down with a hamstring injury.
And talented midfielder Hamish Hartlett faces a possible ban over a third-quarter meltdown when he lashed out at Marc Murphy.
Port’s season-opening streak included stirring comebacks against two of last year’s finalists Adelaide and West Coast.
They’ve since lost to North Melbourne and Richmond and now the Blues, none of whom were top eight sides last year.
Where they found bursts of goals early in the season, they’re now struggling to generate momentum.
“In the last couple of weeks we’ve almost looked like we’re ready to get going and then a poor skill error will hurt us with not too much pressure on,” Hinkley said.
But the rookie coach is confident the downturn will ultimately aid Port’s development.
“We’ve been playing against sides that have put good pressure on us,” he said.
“They’re helping us get better, they’re helping us learn.
“We fought our way out of a couple of those games that we won and now we’re in the middle of a challenging little patch.”
The Power remain sixth, ahead of Richmond and Collingwood on percentage, with the Tigers failing to get the percentage boost expected in their 15.16 (106) to 11.6 (72) defeat of strugglers Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
Adelaide climbed to ninth, their 12.15 (87) to 6.11 (47) defeat of St Kilda at AAMI Stadium giving them consecutive wins for the first time this year.
Earlier in the round, Nic Naitanui’s goal after the siren gave West Coast a much-needed 12.18 (90) to 13.10 (88) win to continue 13th-placed North Melbourne’s season of near misses in Perth on Friday night.
Brisbane upset Essendon 14.12 (96) to 12.14 (86) at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but could lose Daniel Merrett to suspension for a sling tackle which concussed Michael Hurley.
Hawthorn climbed into top spot with their predictable 21.14 (140) to 9.3 (57) thrashing of winless Greater Western Sydney in Launceston on Saturday.
A late Sam Reid mark on the last line of defence allowed Sydney to hold on for the season’s first draw against an inaccurate Fremantle, the Swans scoring 11.4 (70) to the Dockers’ 9.16 (70) at the SCG on Saturday night.
Collingwood handed Geelong their first defeat of the year, a 15.12 (102) to 14.12 (96) thriller at the MCG on Saturday night, to stay in the eight ahead of Friday night’s meeting with reigning premiers Sydney.
