‘He’s had enough’: Kane Cornes drops damning Ken Hinkley truth

A Port Adelaide premiership player has delivered a truth bomb as rumours swirl surrounding Ken Hinkley’s future at the club.

Ken Hinkley’s tenure as the coach of Port Adelaide is coming under increasing scrutiny in the wake of the club’s horror round one display.

The Power were completely blown off the park by Collingwood to the tune of 91-points on Saturday night.

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In the loss — in which the Magpies recorded their biggest-ever total score under Craig McRae — the Power conceded 15.9 (99) from turnover alone; their most in 14 years.

With Hinkley in his final season of coaching before assistant Josh Carr takes over, calls have been made for the 58-year-old to step aside.

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes delivered a damning truth bomb on Hinkley by stating he has simply “had enough” and hasn’t had the fire for some time.

“The level of confusion I haven’t seen anything like it, certainly in Ken’s time,” Cornes said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

Caroline Wilson added: “The club insists Ken and Josh have been working hand-in-hand brilliantly and they are very much a united team. Do you believe that?”

“I think Ken has just had enough, but he’s got to be paid out what he is owed,” Cornes said.

“I think the fire has been out for some time.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 15: Ken Hinkley, Senior Coach of the Power looks on during the 2025 AFL Round 01 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Port Adelaide Power at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 15, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt said it’s reaching a level of awkward within the walls of the club.

“If somebody has told you ‘we actually don’t want you anymore but just hang around’, you’re not going to stay at the party are you,” Riewoldt said.

Cornes added: “What the club has said is it’s the right plan and they have also said under no circumstance would they move on from Ken Hinkley at any point during the year.”

Two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King said the club needs to pull the cord now and bring on the future.

“The long goodbye doesn’t work. We’ve seen it before, and we’ve seen it fail before,” King said Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“And I understand Port Adelaide are trying to respect Ken Hinkley, but they’ve made their decision that he’s not the future. So, why not start the future now?

“Pay him out, let Josh Carr get on with it from here on in. Turn the page.”

Port have said they’re sticking by the coach. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

With serious question marks hanging overhead in the wake of the one-sided demolition job, King said the club can’t afford to wait.

“No one in footy wants to hear ‘it’s time’ — doesn’t matter if you’re an administrator, a player, a coach, whatever. No one wants to hear (it), but we all know it’s time,” King said.

“It’ll roll on, and every week we’ll be talking about this — so my plea, really, is to take this off the table.

“If you really love the club, do the right thing. It’s time. It’s going to be an every-week discussion, it’s going to be impossible for this club to have success in this phase.

“Pay him out, thank him in the right way, but I think it’s Ken’s call more than theirs.

“There’ll be whispers going through the playing unit. This is on Ken, for me … and he’s been a great servant of that football club, but it is time.”