How Ken Hinkley has Power players singing from the same hymn book and enjoying the ride ahead of AFL finals
Exactly what Ken Hinkley was saying to his players in the rooms on Monday night remains a secret but their reaction after securing the minor premiership said it all about the mood at Port Adelaide and Ollie Wines has given us a glimpse.
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Exactly what Ken Hinkley was saying to his players in the rooms on Monday night remains a secret but their reaction after securing the minor premiership against Collingwood said it all.
Power players sat in front of their coach after the 16-point win at the Gabba and broke into fits of laughter and applause while he held court at the front of the room.
“Look at the faces of these players ... whatever Ken is selling, they’re buying it in truckloads,” Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon said.
Ollie Wines told News Corp it was along the lines of making sure they enjoy the ride which now leads to a qualifying final at home against Geelong next week.
“He was just geeing us up to get around each other after the game,” Wines said.
“He was certainly up and about and that’s probably been the trend of our whole season to really enjoy what we’re doing.
“I’m obviously biased but I’ve never seen a team and a list work this hard together and we’ve had fun doing it and that’s helped us.
“And now we’re back at the hotel to have a beer with each other and reflect on the season and understand where we’re heading and what we want to achieve.”
Brad Ebert told Fox Footy Hinkley had challenged the team to defend top spot which they did the entire season.
“And after the game he reiterated that and said ‘boys, we’ve done that, let’s enjoy it, let’s have a bit of fun and keep going from here’,” Ebert said.
The Power has had plenty of fun this year. From instigating the foot-stomping rendition of the team song after beating Fremantle in Round 3 to putting a fist-pumping Hinkley in the middle after he celebrated AFL life membership in Round 6 to the introduction of a drum in Round 16, they are savouring every moment of a season many thought may never happen.
Now that they’ve finished on top, Wines said it gave the team confidence for finals rather than heaped pressure on it.
“It’s a tremendous job by the boys and the footy club, we could have been complacent and having top two locked up could have gone through the motions going into finals, but we made a bit of a goal to finish the season off well,” he said of beating Collingwood on Monday.
“We’d been on top of the ladder for 17 rounds and we’d come this far so why drop the ball now? And keep the momentum going into the finals.
“To be able to execute and finish the season on a high is terrific.
“We know the type of footy we’ve been playing to finish on top, it’s an incredibly tough league and to do that after 17 games is a feat in itself.
“It doesn’t do anything for anyone else but I know it gives us confidence to know where we’re at and what we’re able to do.”
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Hinkley has not been afraid to make hard calls at selection, dropping Brad Ebert and Tom Rockliff this year, leaving Justin Westhoff out of the side and making Wines and even Charlie Dixon play in the reserves last year.
“It’s been a bold move by Ken this year to back guys in and keep guys on notice, but it’s been a trend of our whole footy club the last two years and it’s sort of shaped us into who we want to be,” Wines said.
“With the character of the players we have at this footy club we all want success, and know that Kenny and all the coaches want that, they’re making the calls to get the best out of us and if it requires some tough love or honest feedback at times, I think we have the individuals to cope with that and get their best footy out of it.”
The Power plays Geelong which beat it by 10 goals last month and Wines said they would be prepared.
“The thing from that game was we reviewed it as if we were going to play them again and funnily enough we face them first week of finals,” he said.
“We learnt a lot of lessons there, they’re a quality team and I think we’ll hopefully be able to implement those lessons on our home deck and give a good showing.”
Despite finishing on top, Port Adelaide is $2 outsiders to beat the Cats at $1.80 with the bookies and remain only third favourite for the flag.
But Lyon says it’s time the competition woke up to what the Power could do next month.
“Don’t worry about this narrative that you don’t have respect, you have, and you’re in this premiership race right up to your ears,” Lyon said.
“I don’t think anyone had Port on top at the start of the year and they’ve defied everyone.”
Riewoldt added that it was a credit to Hinkley and the club’s attitude in the Covid-impacted season.
“They had the right attitude from the get-go, they spoke about opportunity and what’s possible for this group. So when some clubs were talking about the challenges that this all presents, no, no, Ken Hinkley was always focused on the possibility and what was the opportunity for this group,” Riewoldt said.
MINOR PREMIERS – NOW POWER’S REAL JOB BEGINS
Nick Wade
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has declared his side has unfinished business, driven by a mission to complete the job and become one of the most respected clubs in the competition.
Hinkley urged his players to celebrate the “really significant” achievement of claiming the minor premiership after going through the entire season on top of the ladder.
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“It’s really significant and the boys deserve it. It’s a 30-week season. We’ve played for a long time and managed to protect it all through the year. I think it’s the first time in 19 years someone’s been able to do that.
“I’m just really proud of the boys and the way they played. They had to do it for a long period of time. I know led by Tom (Jonas) that they were pretty determined to get the job done.”
Hinkley also declared his side earned and deserved its two home finals, pointing to the fact the Power still played 10 matches in Queensland despite its Adelaide Oval advantage.
“We have an opportunity to play at our home ground, but earnt,” he said.
“We’ve earnt that and the state of South Australia has earnt that with the way they’ve handed this pandemic.
“We’ve played 10 times in Queensland this year and seven times in Adelaide, so we’ve got a pretty good record in either spot.”
Hinkley does not feel his side has flown under the radar, despite Richmond and Geelong being viewed as the frontrunners for the premiership.
“I said something a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to be taken the wrong way I think from people,” Hinkley said.
“All I said was it feels like we’ve been fifth all year. But the teams that have been great teams for a long period of time – Richmond and Geelong; and Brisbane last year finished second; West Coast, all those teams that have been up there – they deserve it.
“Because in footy, you have to work really hard to change the narrative and right now we’re working really hard to change the narrative.
“We want to be one of those teams that people certainly respect.”
Hinkley is acutely aware his side’s three losses this season have come against rival finalists, including a 60-point loss to Geelong in Round 12. Port will host the Cats in a qualifying final in a fortnight.
“We’ve been a really consistent team all year, but every team in the competition has had a day or two where they haven’t quite got it right,” he said.
“We don’t hide away from that. We’ve been beaten by three really good teams this year – Brisbane, St Kilda and Geelong. We’ve just got our opportunity now to reset and go again.
“It doesn’t matter what’s happened five weeks ago, eight weeks ago, 30 weeks ago. It matters now what happens from here on.”
POWER SURGE SPOILS PENDLES’ PARTY
Port Adelaide could not be any better prepared.
All season, the Power sat on top of the ladder and on Monday night they answered another challenge in a clash that had all the hallmarks of a final.
After absorbing body blows from Collingwood in a match with several lead changes, Port sealed the minor premiership with a 16-point win at the Gabba, powered by the grunt of Tom Rockliff, the class of Robbie Gray and the safety net of Dan Houston.
They will host two home finals, starting with a qualifying final against Geelong in a fortnight, and have a host of players in form. Collingwood will now travel to West Coast for an elimination final at Perth Stadium.
POWER’S PREMIERSHIP QUARTER
If Port Adelaide goes on to win the premiership, it may look back on the third quarter as the period that set them on their way.
The big moments went the Power’s way.
Steven Motlop, barely sighted all night, launched a checkside high into the night sky that wobbled through for a goal. Port by 11.
Then Sam Powell-Pepper’s shot from the angle moments later flirted with the goalpost but snuck in for a major. Port by 17, the biggest margin of the game.
Collingwood could not force a goal despite repeated efforts. The Pies were denied goalscoring chances by a Charlie Dixon smother, Jamie Elliott’s indecision streaming inside 50, a lineball block call against Mason Cox at the top of the goalsquare and then the finger of the timekeeper.
PENDLES ALL CLASS
On a night when Scott Pendlebury passed Tony Shaw as the club’s games-record holder, he provided another insight into his longevity.
Even at 32 in game 314, the Magpies’ skipper’s influence on matches is just as sharp and as important as ever.
Whether it was the deft touch that set up Adam Treloar’s goal in the first quarter, his prolific work at the stoppages, or the comforting words to an out-of-sorts Jaidyn Stephenson in the first half, his fingerprints were across all aspects of the game. Even his miskicks somehow led to a goal.
His clean hands to set up a Levi Greenwood goal in the third quarter spoke to his uncanny ability to seemingly make everyone stand still, as did the release handpass to Jordan De Goey for the first goal of the last quarter.
KEEPING A LID ON IT
Port Adelaide has spent the season simultaneously flying under the radar while sitting on top of the ladder.
In fact, Port has known nothing else. After beating Gold Coast by 47 points in Round 1, back in March, the Power surged to top spot and has not been dethroned since.
“They’ve been there all year,” coach Ken Hinkley said a week ago. “We’ve sat on top of the ladder since Round 1. It’s almost like we’ve sat fifth, but we’ve sat on top.”
Port Adelaide now has two guaranteed home finals at Adelaide Oval – a venue it boasts a formidable 6-1 record this season. They are very much in the box seat to play in a grand final.
While they’ve part been aided by a run of home matches, a luxury in today’s hub-based season, it cannot be dismissed that they have still played 10 matches on the road, are yet to lose two in a row and defeated premiership favourite Richmond last month.
Port’s game is built on ruthless forward-half pressure, backed by a spread of players thriving on the synergy rather than individualism.
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SCOREBOARD
COLLINGWOOD 2.0 4.0 6.1 7.3 (45)
def by
PORT ADELAIDE 2.2 5.3 8.7 9.7 (61)
GOALS
Magpies: Mihocek 2, De Goey, Elliott, Greenwood, Stephenson, Treloar
Power: Ebert 2, Motlop 2, Dixon, Duursma, Marshall, Powell-Pepper, Rockliff
NICK WADE’S BEST
Magpies: Pendlebury, Adams, Crisp, Quaynor, Daicos
Power: Rockliff, Houston, Gray, Ebert, Jonas
NICK WADE’S VOTES
3 — Tom Rockliff (PtA)
2 — Dan Houston (PtA)
1 — Robbie Gray (PtA)
Originally published as How Ken Hinkley has Power players singing from the same hymn book and enjoying the ride ahead of AFL finals