Under-fire Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley can see a bright future for his team
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley knows he is a man under pressure but says the club has set itself up for future success and he wants to be the man to see it though.
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Under-fire Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley knows he is a man under pressure but has reiterated his desire to see through what he started.
“There are a couple of things that are really clear in my mind, that we have put together a list that gives us a great opportunity going forward,’’ he said in response to mounting pressure, particularly from Power members and supporters, to keep his job next year.
“Whether I get the opportunity to see that through is the challenge for us as a team and me as a coach.
“But we’re really confident in what we’ve built, how we’ve gone about it and know we’re setting ourselves up for an opportunity (to succeed).’’
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Hinkley, who oversaw some big list management changes at the end of last season in a bold bid to turn a middle-of-the-road side into a premiership one, is contracted to 2021 but confirmed that the final year is only triggered if Port plays finals this year or next.
With the Power unlikely to play finals for the fourth year out of the past five — unless there is a minor miracle on Sunday — he is under pressure just to stay in the coaching hot seat next season.
Four clubs already have culled coaches this year — North Melbourne (Brad Scott), Carlton (Brendon Bolton), St Kilda (Alan Richardson) and Fremantle (Ross Lyon).
Port plays the Dockers, who will be led by caretaker coach David Hale for the first time, in its final home-and-away fixture at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Asked how much heat he was feeling, Hinkley said: “If you are not making finals, you run a risk as coach, I get that.
“It is a challenging time for any football club when you are a little bit off where you want to be.
“Questions get asked and that’s the challenge that I face at the moment.
“The reality is that if you don’t get to a level of performance that is seen as satisfactory then you eventually lose your job.
“I’m hoping that’s a fair bit further away but I don’t know.
“What I will say is that this team is really connected, there is no problems with the connection between the team, between players, coaches, all the coaches, not just me, we have really stuck the course and stuck the journey.
“I am proud of that, really proud.
“The season itself has been built around some really significant success (development of young players) but not the ultimate success.’’
Hinkley, expressing confidence that out-of-contract wingman Karl Amon will reject offers from Victorian clubs to stay at Alberton next year, said his sole focus this week was on getting his team to redeem itself for last Saturday’s Marvel Stadium horror show against North Melbourne — an inexcusable 86-point defeat that probably cost it a finals spot.
“We’ve not hidden away from the fact that it was a really, really poor performance last week but we get an opportunity to respond this Sunday in the best way we possibly can,’’ he said.
“It’s a really important game, we have some hope (to play finals), I get that some of that hope is out of our control (the Crows must beat the Bulldogs), but who knows?
“Come Sunday afternoon, with what this season has done all year, who knows what’s going to happen.
“But whether it is or isn’t our last game (for the season), it’s about how we play this week.
“We have an obligation to play a proper game of football and give ourselves a chance to finish on a high note.’’