Ken Hinkley reveals how he decided he was still the right man for the Port Adelaide coaching job

EXCLUSIVE: Ken Hinkley has explained why he ignored the Gold Coast Suns to recommit to Port Adelaide and stay at Alberton for the 2018 season.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley all smiles after the win against Gold Coast. Picture: SARAH REED

• Hinkley to stay at Port for next season
• Port season review
• Power makes it clear to Suns that Hinkley is not available
• Williams lashes Kochie’s post-final rant
• Cornes: In Ken and Koch, Port should trust

KEN Hinkley has reaffirmed — to himself — that he is still the right man standing to coach Port Adelaide.

Hinkley told The Advertiser on Monday he spent the weekend — when he was reported to have quit the Power to accept a five-year deal at Gold Coast — making an honest personal assessment of his ability to work at Alberton next year.

Hinkley’s conclusion was Gold Coast “did not fit” and he would stand by his contract with Port Adelaide for next year.

“At the end of a season, you review yourself — and your own energy,” Hinkley told The Advertiser. “You see what level that is at.

“For me it has been a long and hard season,” added Hinkley, one of the three coaches (along with Damien Hardwick at Richmond and Nathan Buckley at Collingwood) who started the AFL season under the most pressure to keep their jobs. All three will coach their clubs next season.

“I needed to make sure that I had the energy to do what I need to do to give my football club and my players the best chance to be successful.

“Once you do that, it is all OK and you move forward. And you are full of energy to go again.

“I am comfortable — and committed to Port Adelaide.”

Hinkley, 51 at the end of the month, will next year complete his sixth season at the Power where he has a 65-50 win-loss record and qualified for three AFL finals series. He says he is not fussed with locking a contract extension in the off-season or during next year.

“I am committed to Port Adelaide for 2018 — and, hopefully, to Port Adelaide for a bit longer in the very near future,” Hinkley told The Advertiser.

“It is now a discussion between the football club and my manager (Peter Blucher) — and that will take care of itself very quickly I imagine.

“It doesn’t really worry me how long it takes because I am really confident and comfortable the club believe in me — and I believe in them.”

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley leaves 5AA on Monday night. Picture: NAOMI JELLICOE

Hinkley dismissed he had been taken to the brink by club president David Koch’s emotive speech to at Adelaide Oval members after the elimination final loss in extra time to West Coast on September 9.

Koch put on notice the Power players demanding they be inspired to win a premiership with Port Adelaide or they should ask for a trade — a theme many considered beyond his office.

Hinkley also dismissed a rift with Koch saying: “Not at all. David, (chief executive) Keith (Thomas) and I are working together — and very hard — to give our club the best chance.

“If that means holding people accountable to high standards, we are happy to do that.”

Hinkley returned to work at Alberton on Monday morning amid reports he had asked to be released from his contract to become Gold Coast’s replacement for Rodney Eade, the only AFL coach sacked this season. There also were reports of crisis meetings away from Alberton with Hinkley rejecting pleas from Power executives to complete his contract.

“No, not at all,” Hinkley said. “There definitely were discussion between me, (chief executive) Keith (Thomas), (president) David (Koch) and (football manager) Chris Davies about what needed to be done (with Port Adelaide’s football ambitions).

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley during a Power training session at Adelaide Oval.

“And how I needed to handle things to make sure I had the energy to get the job done.”

Hinkley confirmed Gold Coast’s move to get him back to the troubled AFL franchise where he was an assistant coach from late 2009 until he moved to Alberton in late 2012.

“The conversation with my manager was to ask the question about whether I would or could (take up the Gold Coast vacancy),” Hinkley said. “Clearly, I think that club has — and I know it has because I’ve been there — the chance for success. I hope it does well. But for me, it did not fit.”

Hinkley revealed the drain on AFL coaches in his post-match press conference at the elimination final loss in extra time to the Eagles. He tellingly said: “I — like a lot of people — get sick to death of other stuff that comes with this game and that’s what challenges me.”

Hinkley was further tested in this area by the wild speculation on his future.

“You just have to ignore it,” Hinkley said. “You have to deal with it. It is football. It is exciting. And it is interesting for a lot of people, particularly in the state — and Melbourne.”

[e-mail]