By Jake Niall
This semi-final might have been celebrated for the cliffhanger ending, for the valour of Port Adelaide in responding to last week’s humiliation by Geelong, for Hawthorn’s plucky final surge that likely would have succeeded had James Sicily’s long shot not struck the post.
It might have been feted for Jase Burgoyne’s breakout performance, for Nick Watson’s brilliant treble of goals, for Zak Butters and Connor Rozee surmounting bruised ribs and wounded pride, for Sicily’s leadership and Jai Newcombe’s unwavering commitment.
Power coach Ken Hinkley interacts with Hawks skipper James Sicily (right) in a dramatic conclusion to the sides’ semi-final.Credit: AFL Photos
But, as anyone who watched the broadcast would know, these storylines were utterly overshadowed by the post-siren confrontation between Port coach Ken Hinkley and two Hawks, Jack Ginnivan and Sicily, as the players formed a respectful guard of honour for Luke Breust after his 300th game.
It was a dramatic and unfortunate end to a final in which “Hokball” – the Hawthorn brand of playing and self-expression – finally met its Waterloo in 2024.
In a neat coincidence, this finals series marks the 20th anniversary of Port Adelaide’s premiership memorable for Mark Williams’ celebrations – mock choking himself and declaring “Allan Scott, you were wrong” on the podium, aimed at the trucking magnate who sponsored the club and had declared Port would never win a premiership under Williams. So Hinkley, who soon turns 58 and has been under more pressure than any coach, at least had club heritage on his side.
The AFL will look at the footage of Hinkley mouthing off at Ginnivan and then Sicily’s intervention on behalf of his teammate and, based on history, the Port coach will either be cautioned for overstepping the mark of acceptable conduct or handed a fine.
If there is a sanction, it will not be major, even if the league takes a dim view of coaches and officials confronting opposition players.
On the Alastair Clarkson scale for outbursts on the boundary, Hinkley’s offence was less than that of Giants’ football boss Jason McCartney, who made physical contact with an opposition player and had some narky words with Sydney’s version of Ginnivan, Tom Papley. GWS copped a $20,000 fine for that “unacceptable” incursion.
The footage shows that Hinkley spent quite a bit of time and served several verbal volleys – not just a solitary sentence – at Ginnivan, who had offended Port Adelaide in an Instagram post to Brodie Grundy (his teammate from their past lives at Collingwood), “see u in 14 days” (implying Hawthorn would beat Port, to then play Grundy’s Sydney).
It is plain to all – including Port – that Hinkley blundered in his graceless taunts, which were unsporting and unnecessary. Port had won, after all, following an epic struggle with a formidable opponent. Winners should be grinners rather than rub-it-in-ers.
Hawks forward Jack Ginnivan celebrates a goal against Port Adelaide.Credit: AFL Photos
So Hinkley apologised, first in a tepid form to “Roaming Brian” Taylor on Seven and then in a somewhat more convincing way at his media conference, although he admitted that Ginnivan’s “14 days” post had been a source of motivation for the Power. Heaven knows why players would lift because of a silly social media post, but (some) coaches will cling to anything that might make a millimetre of difference.
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell was incensed by Hinkley’s sledging, drawing a distinction between Hinkley’s position as a seasoned middle-aged coach and a young player – the clear inference being that Hinkley should know better and that Ginnivan had the youth defence.
Mitchell expressed pride, not only in Hawthorn’s season, but in his skipper Sicily flying the flag for Ginnivan. Would he be speaking to Hinkley? “Absolutely not.”
In the disappointed but not despondent Hawthorn rooms, Hawk president Andy Gowers hadn’t seen the confrontation, Newcombe told me he hadn’t heard it, but others had watched it, and looked at the footage and were shaking their heads that Hinkley had shown such poor sportsmanship.
The most lenient view of the Hinkley invective towards Ginnivan is of an old-school curmudgeon coach being unable to abide the look-at-me antics of some modern footballers – Ginnivan being the game’s premier practitioner of attention-seeking poses and posts.
In this reading, Hinkley is assailing not only Ginnivan – whose reputation for staging for frees has been overtaken by his theatrical gestures and comments – but the new edifice of self-promoting Instagram-focused footballers who seem to lack humility.
This column cannot read minds, but will venture that Hinkley’s thoughts about Ginnivan were not dissimilar to McCartney’s when he bumped into Papley last weekend.
Critics of Hawthorn – which is to say many who follow Geelong, Essendon and other clubs – were quick to point out to this column that the Hawks can hardly be on the high horse about Hinkley when, like all clubs, they have their own rap sheet of less than sportsman-like moments (remember “the unsociable Hawks” from early Clarkson times) and that Mitchell himself wasn’t averse to the odd taunt of opponents.
And so by the time Sicily spoke at Adelaide Airport on Saturday morning, the Hawks seemingly had gained perspective, knowing the bottom line was that they’d lost but gained so much over a season in which they entertained and took their fans on a hell of a ride, and that the Hinkley episode wasn’t so important.
“My duty as a leader is I’ll always have my teammates’ back and I’ll stick up for them regardless of who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong,” said Sicily, who also explained how his nearly winning shot failed to fade right.
“I don’t regret it one bit really, the only thing I’d do, I wish I had my time again, is the exchange lingered probably too long and it took the gloss off Punky’s [Breust’s] 300th ... it’s probably the only thing I’m disappointed in is that I wasn’t fully present in that moment.”
The more interesting question for Hawthorn is whether they will impose new boundaries around Ginnivan, not so much in his celebrations – such as the mock drinking – but in what he says about prospective opponents.
James Sicily reacts to Port coach Ken Hinkley.Credit: AFL Photos
Mitchell strikes one as a coach who, like Sicily, presents a united front, but what is said to the media isn’t always same as the private version for the player.
“Those things are better off done behind closed doors,” Sicily said of the Hinkley moment. “We love Jack, we love what he brings. He’s a bit of a smart alec.
“That’s footy. It’s a game at the end of the day.”
So it is. And, who of us in the media can’t say they didn’t find both the Port v Hawks final and the final confrontation entertaining.
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