Travis Boak says the heat Ken Hinkley is copping as Port coach is not fair on him
Port Adelaide star Travis Boak says the constant criticism of coach Ken Hinkley and speculation about his position isn’t fair on the Power leader, backing him to lead Port to glory.
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Port Adelaide star Travis Boak says the constant criticism of coach Ken Hinkley and speculation about his position isn’t fair on the Power leader and AFL coaches on the whole “probably cop too much at times”.
And while Hinkley has admitted that if the Power don’t make finals anytime soon he will likely not be the coach of the club, the player who was his captain up until this year, has backed the increasingly under pressure coach as the right man to lead Port Adelaide.
In the wake of the Power’s horrible loss to North Melbourne on Saturday, which has put their top-eight chances in serious jeopardy, Hinkley confirmed that his contract contains a clause that requires a finals appearance to extend it to the end of 2021.
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There has been increasing frustration from Port fans online at Hinkley’s performance as coach as a result of the Power’s yoyo season.
Boak said he believed the heat Hinkley copped wasn’t fair.
“I’d say it’s not but that’s the nature of footy,” he said.
“Coaches probably cop too much at times and a lot of it falls on their shoulders, which it probably shouldn’t be they aren’t playing the game.
“It is disappointing that he cops so much but is a very strong person and a great leader of our group.”
But despite the increasing criticism of Hinkley, and rampant speculation about whether he might be moved on, Boak said the Port players were not letting it affect them.
“He is an outstanding coach and an outstanding leader of men,” Boak said.
“We are all 100 per cent behind him and love him as a person, as a coach, a leader, a mentor and he definitely is the right person to lead us forward.
“If it doesn’t affect Ken it doesn’t affect us ... he has been outstanding all year.”
The number of AFL coaches sacked this season stands now at four following Fremantle’s decision to sack Ross Lyon.
On each previous occasion this year the team that sacked their coach has had a bounce back the following week and Boak said the Power would have to expect that from the Dockers.
“They got us in Perth earlier in the year and for some reason, whenever a coach goes, their performance goes up the next week,” he said.
“But we’re expecting a strong performance, led by (Nat) Fyfe, so we know they can produce some really good footy.”
On Tuesday, Hinkley said the status of his deal was not adding pressure on his job going into the 2020 season.
“You don’t have to worry about clauses in contracts if you perform at the level you think you can and I think we can perform at a very high level in the near future,” he said.
“I’m very confident I will fulfil the entire part of my contract and possibly more if that’s what we can do as a football club.”
Boak said it was up to the players to respond for their coach.
“We have a big part to play, we are the ones going out on the weekend and putting in the performances,” he said.