Honest Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley on his brave declaration about Power’s 2020 season
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley acknowledges he copped “plenty of clips” for his now famous “Look out, here we come” comments about the Powers 2020 hopes but he tells Scott Gullan he’s not backing down from his declaration.
Port Adelaide
Don't miss out on the headlines from Port Adelaide. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Was it a throwaway line? Did he get caught out in a weak moment? Or was it PR spin to generate excitement for fans?
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley’s statement certainly woke AFL pundits from their pre-season slumber when he said: “Look out, we’re coming.”
Watch every match of every round of the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE & On-Demand with KAYO. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
In this day and age of “taking it one week at a time” and “happy to get the four points”, such bravado from an AFL figurehead is met with raised eyebrows. So what was behind Hinkley’s controversial declaration?
The search for the answer finds Hinkley in a quiet corner of an Adelaide cafe. He’s got a small window in his schedule before he’s required to attend a major club sponsorship announcement.
“I got plenty of clips,” he says with a smile when quizzed about that comment.
“I only said what I believed. I don’t sit here and say we’re going to win a premiership because we know how hard it is but we’re setting out to try and win it. That’s all I said, ‘Watch out, here we come’.
“We’re a young group, we’re an exciting team, anything is achievable, you never know so you shoot for the stars and we’re aiming for the top.”
The one thing his players, friends, family and anyone who has worked with Hinkley knows is that he’s real.
It’s the perfect word to sum up the 53-year-old who is entering his eighth year in charge of Port Adelaide.
There’s no PR spin or mind games. Hinkley says what he thinks and leaves no grey area which is why he’s one of the league’s most respected straight-shooters.
“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” he continues.
“Fifty per cent of the people tell you that’s good that you’re confident and 50 per cent of them say you’re kidding, aren’t you, you’re getting ahead of yourself and putting too much pressure on.
“Pressure isn’t an issue anymore, pressure is just part of what you do, it doesn’t worry me. But I do believe in the group, it’s that simple.”
Hinkley enters 2020 effectively with a gun to his head.
Everyone knows Power must make the finals to trigger a clause in the coach’s contract which would allow him to keep his job. It’s a situation Hinkley isn’t shying away from, in fact, he’s embracing it with renewed gusto.
“There are plenty of people in this game who have got a longer length contract than I’ve got who end up not fulfilling that contract, so who knows when the moment comes,” he says.
“But if you have belief in yourself, belief in your team and belief in what you do then that shouldn’t frighten you. It doesn’t frighten me.”
BELIEF IN THE PLAN
Hinkley’s belief in his team is born out of the tough decisions made at the end of 2017.
After finishing third in his second season at Alberton in 2014, Port has only returned to the finals once since and finished 10th in both of the past two seasons.
“At the end of 2017 we made difficult decisions and those decisions were based around that we didn’t think we had a group who were going to win a premiership for us so we made some decisions as a football club,” Hinkley explains.
“Not just me, but as a football club with our list management. We made some decisions to put us in a position to win a premiership and that is what we have set out to do.
“We had a really clear plan about what we were trying to achieve. We at Port Adelaide don’t set out to play finals.
“I get fascinated by people saying you’ve got to play finals. My belief is you want to win the thing, if playing finals is the end goal then I think you are failing.”
Hinkley has let some serious talent walk out the door including All-Australian Chad Wingard, Jared Polec, Jarman Impey, Jasper Pittard, Paddy Ryder and Dougal Howard, along with capable foot soldiers such as Jack Hombsch, Jackson Trengove, Matthew Lobbe and Aaron Young.
MORE AFL:
AFL Daily: Steven May, Jay Lever can lead Demon rise, rolling footy news for Friday March 6, 2020
Titus O’Reily takes a look at how each supporter base feels about the 2020 season
2020 AFL Dream Team: Who is the best utility in the AFL?
He gave lifelines to some experienced types such as Steven Motlop, Tom Rockliff, Jack Watts and Trent McKenzie while also adding the talented Ryan Burton from Hawthorn and West Coast premiership ruckman Scott Lycett.
But the real ray of sunshine in all these moves was the draft coup Port pulled off at the 2018 national draft when it selected Connor Rozee (No.5), Zak Butters (No.12) and Xavier Duursma (No.18). The trio missed just five games between them last season.
Rozee won the club’s goalkicking (with 29), was runner-up in the Rising Star and finished fourth in the best-and-fairest, while Duursma was ninth.
“They are unbelievable the three of them,” Hinkley says.
“They are mature beyond their years and completely different to each other.
“They train at a level that is ridiculous for kids. We don’t put restrictions on them, I don’t believe you have to rest your kids, if they’re out of form you rest them but that’s like any player.
“All three have had strong pre-seasons and you look at them and think they’re going to be better players this year and if that’s the case it’s very exciting.”
A fit Charlie Dixon and a full pre-season for Robbie Gray are other reasons why the coach is excited.
It’s a massive year for Port Adelaide in more ways than one, as it celebrating its 150th birthday and for a Victorian such as Hinkley it’s been an eye-opening experience to be a part of it.
“There is just an unbelievable passion in this footy club. If you want to go to war, you want to go to war with Port people as they’re going to fight, they’re going to put everything on the line,” he says.
EDDIE, STEADY, GO
Last month Hinkley travelled to England to spend time with Eddie Jones, the highly successful Australian who is coaching the English rugby union side. He had open access to England’s preparation for the Six Nations tournament and came away with knowledge he’s sure will help him during the biggest year of his coaching career.
“You go to an international program and you see a hands-on approach from a coach who has been around longer than me and he is really in their face,” Hinkley explains.
“He is really up there helping, instructing and teaching. We have got some younger people in the side and some senior people who need to get better.
“If that’s what people want to call more hands-on then I’m probably more hands-on. My job is to coach the football players and I enjoy getting back to that.”
He knows there is going to be even more scrutiny than normal on him — which is saying something in a two-team town such as Adelaide — because of his contract circumstances.
“I have been lucky enough to look around and have a bit of experience when you’ve been coaching for 24 years,” he says.
“I have seen Damien Hardwick win a premiership in his eighth year, I have seen Mark Thompson win a premiership in his eighth year.
“Things are possible and if you are setting up a football club to be successful, you’ve got to take your medicine at some point and set it up.
“We are in a really healthy position, we feel like we are only getting better, we’re not getting worse.”
And with that, Hinkley is up. Duty calls, but before he goes there is one more real statement.
“The reality is my situation will be decided, right or wrong, by the result, and we won’t know that result for a little while,” he says.
“What I do know is that no matter what happens in 2020 the Port Adelaide Football Club is closer to its next premiership than they were in 2017. End of story.”
KEN HINKLEY ON
CHARLIE DIXON
“He has had a really good pre-season. He had a great year in 2017 when he had a good pre-season but has basically been non-existent for nearly the last couple of seasons. His injury was horrific and people forget that, the broken leg/ankle was folded inside out pretty much. Charlie didn’t get back until the midpoint last year and then he was dealing with all sorts of things going on physically and he was doing the best with what he had. In this game when you’re playing on the best defenders, often two of them at a time, you have to have everything going right for you.”
CAPTAINCY CHANGE
“That was a whole club decision, not purely football. It was recognition of a 150-year-old football club and their want and desire to have the tradition of a singular captain and as a footy department we support the whole club decision. We couldn’t mark it (co-captains) a failure or a pass based on the year because Ollie (Wines) had a dislocated shoulder at the start, then he broke his thumb and leg. Tom (Jonas) was really capable and he’s had 12 months to get to this point where he’s more than capable to lead by himself.”
OLLIE WINES
“His two best games were against West Coast and Geelong, we won both of them and they were probably our best games of the season and Ollie was our best player. He is significantly important to our football club and he’s just had a bad run with injuries, everyone at some point in their career goes through a stage where nearly nothing goes right for a little period of time. I watch him each day get better, I watch him train harder and harder and I know he will get back as good as gold.”
DAVID KOCH
“David and I talk regularly every week, we understand each other’s responsibilities at the footy club. We do stay aligned, we do have robust conversations at the right time but the one thing we both know is that we are both in it to make this football club the best it can be. I’m lucky to work with a president like David, some people might think it is the opposite but to have someone like him represent the club — I mean you look at Eddie (McGuire) and Collingwood — it’s incredible what they do for their clubs.”
Originally published as Honest Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley on his brave declaration about Power’s 2020 season