Port Adelaide coach’s cheeky celebration as 17-year record broken

Port Adelaide have broken one of the longest droughts in the AFL and no one was happier than coach Ken Hinkley, who celebrated in style.

Port Adelaide broke a 17-year drought at GMHBA Stadium and nobody was more relieved than coach Ken Hinkley and small forward Willie Rioli.

Rioli went from potential hero as the Power fired an extraordinary first-quarter salvo to the brink of villain as a brain fade sent Geelong’s withering chase into overdrive.

Ultimately the Cats’ rally came from 49 points 11 minutes into the second quarter came up one goal short in a drama-packed finale.

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The Power were blew the Cats off their home ground in a blistering first half, prompting Hinkley to cup his ear to the crowd after his side booted another goal.

Geelong fought back in a nailbiting finish and Hinkley celebrated the 15.11 (101) to 14.11 (95) win by waving his arms wildly in the air towards the crowd after the siren sounded.

Cats fans thought Jeremy Cameron had pulled them within a point after a goalsquare scramble with all players active, only for the umpires to pull back play to near the 50m line on the boundary for a free kick to Geelong’s Ollie Henry.

Watch Ken Hinkley’s celebrations in the video above

Ken Hinkley was up and about.

Hinkley had reason to smile. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

That the advantage rule hadn’t been paid after Henry’s tackle on Zak Butters was most certainly news to 95 per cent of the players, let alone the rabid home fans.

But the break gave Port breathing room and they steadied in the last minute to hang on for a memorable win.

They were preparing a Rioli bronze bust at Alberton when he sharked a ruck contest and snapped a brilliant fourth goal midway through the third quarter.

Ten minutes later, they were preparing cardboard effigies and ordering kerosene.

Rioli had been typical of his Port Adelaide teammates, making the most of all opportunities.

But having worked slowly into midfield supremacy from that point, the Cats needed a spark and it came in two moments of madness from Rioli.

The elusive forward was outmarked by the rapidly emerging Zach Guthrie, remonstrated for a 50m penalty, then blocked Guthrie’s progress up the field and conceded another 50m.

Guthrie’s 13th career goal slashed the Cats’ deficit to four goals which soon became three.

And after a brutal arm wrestle through a tense final term, the Power left deserved winners.

Zak Butters (right) was one of Port’s best with Ollie Wines. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Oisin Mullin, restored into the team this week and on to the field as substitute to help quell a rampant Jason Horne-Francis, was impressive in a negating role.

But Horne-Francis had done the damage early and it was a compelling opening term that proved decisive.

Almost unbelievably, it took Geelong 10 minutes to muster a forward-50 entry, and even then the forays tended to be “fast breaks”, rather than in structured play.

Port went to the first break with 8.2 to its credit, the 50 points the most Geelong has conceded in any quarter since 2012.

Remarkably, it’s the biggest opening quarter score the Cats have given up at Kardinia Park since Essendon booted 8.4 in Round 21, 1983.

Powered by Horne-Francis at the attacking end of the square, and drifting forward for a goal of his own, Port was irresistible.

Rioli was the chief beneficiary, but there genuine waves of teal for the first 40 minutes of the match.

Geelong have lost two in a row after their unbeaten start. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Strangely against the man supposedly Port’s “third-string” ruckman Dante Visentini, the Cats were bullied in the myriad centre bounces on offer.

So much so that coach Chris Scott sent the old-fashioned “drag him” message to Rhys Stanley, leaving the Cats’ ruck duties to a committee led by Mark Blicavs and a lot of question marks on the club’s big man department.

A rare first-half highlight for the home team came with a trademark left-to-right goal from spearhead Tom Hawkins, who kicked his first major since Round 4 to celebrate his milestone club record-equalling 355th game.

So dominant was Port Adelaide in the first half that the top eight possession winners on the ground all wore teal. In fact, Zach Guthrie was the only Cat who reached double-figures.

And while other clubs have attempted to put the clamps on Cats’ defensive kingpin Tom Stewart, Port found arguably the best answer of anyone this season in Jed McEntee.

McEntee wasn’t left to his own devices, though, with multiple Port forwards giving Stewart a clip as they went past him in contests – and occasionally afterwards.

Originally published as Port Adelaide coach’s cheeky celebration as 17-year record broken