Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has signed a three-year contract extension with the AFL club.

Hinkley will coach Port until at least the end of the 2021 season, after rejecting overtures to join the Gold Coast Suns.

He had been contracted at Port until the end of next season but the interest of the Suns accelerated negotiations for an extension with the Power.

“There’s some relief because of the last week, there’s no doubt that has been pretty tiring for everyone involved,” Hinkley told reporters on Tuesday.

“The whole thing becomes a little bit taxing. But I’m just so pleased to be still part of this club and this group of players.

“I have always said what we have going is unbelievable as a group between coaches and players and football club. I needed to keep that going.”

Hinkley has taken Port to the finals in three of his five years at the helm.

The Power were beaten in an extra-time elimination final this season.

Port chief executive Keith Thomas said Gold Coast flagging their interest in Hinkley had accelerated re-negotiations.

The Suns fired Rodney Eade as coach last month with three rounds remaining in the AFL regular season.

Hinkley took charge at Port when the club was a financial basket-case being propped up by AFL funds and was frequently missing the finals.

“We have made remarkable progress and I am very comfortable with the platform we have set,” Thomas told reporters.