Ken Hinkley remembers the late Phil Walsh 10 years on from his passing

Together at Geelong and then Port Adelaide, and on opposing sides in a Showdown – Ken Hinkley spent a lot of time with Phil Walsh. And he says what you heard about the man was real.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has remembered the late Phil Walsh as a brilliant football mind, describing him as having unrivalled knowledge of the game.

Walsh, who died on July 3, 2015, aged 55, spent a season with Hinkley at Geelong in 1995, before they reunited at the Power in 2014 then faced off in opposing coaches boxes in a Showdown the next campaign.

Speaking ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Walsh’s death, Hinkley said his former colleague left a significant mark on the code.

Ken Hinkley and Phil Walsh completing a Showdown press conference. Picture: Sarah Reed.

“I reflect a little bit on Phil, the football person more than anything,” Hinkley said.

“His knowledge and his love of game was real.

“You reflect on the knowledge and brilliance of his mind, which was amazing from a football sense.

“His game day stuff and his intensity, and willingness to try to win everything, and make sure his team was so prepared.

“I think the players who played under Phil would say their was no stone unturned in terms of being ready to play football.

“I’m sure the blokes who had him at the Crows as well would all say exactly the same thing.

“His footy knowledge, there was no one better.”

Hinkley’s last AFL season as a player came at the Cats with Walsh, who was in his first year as the club’s fitness boss under Gary Ayres.

They both hailed from western Victoria – Hinkley from Camperdown, Walsh from Hamilton – and later turned to coaching.

An ex-Collingwood, Richmond and Brisbane player, Walsh had an initial stint as an assistant at Port Adelaide under close friend Mark Williams, moved to West Coast, then returned to the Power as midfield manager for the 2014 campaign, Hinkley’s second in charge.

Hinkley smiled when he recalled Walsh “wrestling in his budgie smugglers with Travis Boak” on the club’s pre-season camp to Dubai among his standout memories.

MORE: THE EVERLASTING PHIL WALSH LEGACY 10 YEARS ON

Hinkley watches training with Walsh. Picture: Sarah Reed

Adelaide appointed Walsh to his first senior coaching job in October 2014.

The next year’s first Showdown, which the Crows won, two weeks after Walsh died, remained a significant moment as the clubs came together to remember him and ran through one banner.

“In times like that, rivalry doesn’t count,” Hinkley said.

Veteran Crow Taylor Walker called Walsh a beautiful man that was very missed.

Walsh appointed Walker captain not long after he started coaching Adelaide in a call that was initially considered left-field, only to later be widely lauded.

“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years,” Walker, who helped galvanise the Crows as they made the finals in 2015 and 2016, then a flag decider in 2017, told Triple M.

“You sit here being very grateful that we crossed paths.

“You feel like we’re a beneficiary of the legacy and the impact he had on my life, and other people’s lives.”

Originally published as Ken Hinkley remembers the late Phil Walsh 10 years on from his passing