"I was scared shitless," he quipped.
Hinkley's nerves were understandably jangled leading into the clash against arch rival Adelaide but his players did their best to alleviate his concerns once the opening siren sounded.
With a fast start and a grand finish, Port put on a magnificent exhibition in front of a packed house of 50,397, basking in sparkling sunshine, earning eternal history and claiming the first-ever Showdown over the Crows at the picturesque but significantly refurbished city venue, convincingly, by 55 points.
"This whole week, even the fortnight, has been big for us as a football club," Hinkley said.
"It (membership) is touching 50,000.
"It's just an amazing group of supporters."
A pre-match ceremony marked the unveiling of the new home of South Australian football.
SA premier Jay Weatherill, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, SANFL commission chairman John Olsen, SANFL general manager Leigh Whicker , SACA president Andrew Sinclair, SACA CEO Keith Bradshaw, and Stadium Managent Authority head honchos Ian McLaughlin and Andrew Daniels cut the ribbon to signify the reunification of Australian football and cricket at the venue for the first time since 1973.
For Hinkley, whose club campaigned hard for the move from AAMI Stadium in West Lakes, it felt very much like home.
"We were coming home to Adelaide Oval," he said.
"We've won 21 (SANFL) flags here.
"A home game, home Showdown, first time here (permanently) ... come back home and make it feel it was home.
"Our fans and players together made it feel like home."
Just running onto the fabled arena, best-on-ground Showdown Medallist Hamish Hartlett observed some of his team-mates grinning from ear to ear before a ball was even kicked in anger.
"We were just about to run through the banner when I turned around and looked at a few of the boys and they literally couldn't wipe the grin off their faces," Hartlett said.
"They were so excited and that pumped to get out there.
"It's something that a lot of us have never experienced before.
"The boys get a bit of a kick out of even training here.
"To get 50,000 to cram into the stadium, start chanting, the song before the first bounce, all that sort of stuff adds to it.
"It was incredible. We're certainly looking forward to playing the rest of our years here, that's for sure."