Port Adelaide looking for clarity after giving up most free kicks under Ken Hinkley’s watch
PORT Adelaide has returned from China with a puzzle to be solved by the AFL umpiring department on why its players are giving up so many free kicks.
Port Adelaide
Don't miss out on the headlines from Port Adelaide. Followed categories will be added to My News.
PORT Adelaide’s players will regather at Alberton on Friday - and by then the Power might have an answer to their worst free-kick count in an AFL game coached by Ken Hinkley.
Port Adelaide conceded 36 free kicks - while beating Gold Coast by 40 points in Shanghai on Saturday. This is the heaviest penalty against the Power since round 16, 2016 when the umpires called against Hinkley’s group 30 times in a 22-point loss to Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval.
Hinkley on Saturday labelled the whistle work against Port Adelaide as “significantly against us”. The most were against midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper with seven.
The 36 free kicks at Jiangwan Stadium is surpassed in Hinkley’s six years at Alberton only by the 38 conceded in the 10-point loss to North Melbourne in round 6, 2013 in Hobart - a match Hinkley missed with a back complaint leaving the senior coaching role to Alan Richardson.
These are the only three games since Hinkley started at Alberton in which Port Adelaide has conceded 30 or more free kicks. And the extra break - to recover from the long-haul travel to China - might be timely for Hinkley and his coaching staff to get answers from AFL House on why their team has a negative free-kick count this season.
Port Adelaide’s basic free-kick counter in nine games this year is 186-201, including the 23-26 at Jiangwan Stadium on Saturday. The AFL does not publicly release any more a more-detailed - and more-relevant - indicator of the missed, warranted and correct free kicks in an AFL game.
Port Adelaide’s 24-man travelling squad broke up in Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon with captain Travis Boak leading a group to Adelaide for a hassle-free arrival in Adelaide at 5am Monday. Some players have taken advantage of the four-day break they have been handed to travel across Asia.
The Power (6-3) does not resume on the field until Saturday week (June 2) - against Hawthorn at Launceston - with Hinkley counting a rare blessing of no injury in the past fortnight. He could be fielding an unchanged 22 in three consecutive games for the first time since working the same 22 in the Power’s three finals in 2014.
It is quite rare - just three times in the past five years - for an AFL club to run the same team across three consecutive games.
While Port Adelaide football chief Chris Davies and Hinkley’s coaching team seek answers from AFL House on how to correct the Power’s lopsided free-kick count, Boak will have his squad meet at Alberton on Friday with a clear focus on their football agenda.
“We have to continue to look after the things we have been doing well in the past couple of weeks (against Adelaide and Gold Coast) - and that is the contested ball and time in forward half,” Boak said. “We have to be demanding on each other - and that has been outstanding in the past two weeks.
“The contested stuff has not been consistent all year, so we have to make sure we maintain a strength in that area for the rest of the year.”
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
End of Ken: Inside the moment Hinkley’s Power reign ended
Defiance and emotion have defined Ken Hinkley’s reign at Port Adelaide. After fighting for so long, the Power coach finally has an Alberton end date. Matt Turner takes you inside a historic day.
From Ramsgate dust-up to Port’s top job: Who is Josh Carr?
A hard-nut premiership player, 10-0 in Showdowns and right in the middle of the infamous Ramsgate Hotel dust-up. The next coach of the Power is Port Adelaide through and through.