Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley hit with big fine over Jack Ginnivan rant

The AFL has handed down its punishment to Ken Hinkley after the Port coach lost his cool following his side’s win over Hawthorn.

A fired up Hinkley on-field and far more contrite post-match. Photos: Fox Sports/Getty Images

Ken Hinkley has been hit with a $20,000 fine following his wild outburst at Hawthorn following last Friday night’s semi-final victory at Adelaide Oval.

The Port Adelaide coach conceded Jack Ginnivan’s infamous “see you in 14 days” Instagram comment got under his and his club’s skin and was used “a fair bit” in the build-up to the final.

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Hinkley’s emotions then got the better of him right after the siren, with the 57-year-old singling out Ginnivan for a spray before he got involved in another slanging match with Hawks skipper James Sicily.

The incidents overshadowed the superb win from the Power and also took the gloss off the celebrations for Luke Breust’s 300th game for Hawthorn.

The AFL has now handed down its sanction on Sunday night.

A fired up Hinkley on-field and far more contrite in his post-match press conference. Photos: Fox Sports/Getty Images

Hinkley’s gesture to Ginnivan after the match.

“We understand it is a passionate game with a lot at stake for all clubs, however Ken made a decision to engage with opposition players post-match — a decision he has since admitted was the wrong one,” AFL General Counsel Stephen Meade said in the statement.

“Ken has acknowledged that his emotions got the better of him in the moment, however as a senior coach his actions fell well below what is expected by the AFL.

“As we reiterated last week, opposition officials and players inappropriately engaging each other is something we don’t want to see because of the potential to escalate and the example that it sets for football at lower levels.

”And we are disappointed the moment took away from what was one of the great finals matches.”

Ginnivan fell just short of the promised showdown with the Swans next week. Photo: Michael Klein

The sanction for Hinkley, which won’t be included in Port Adelaide’s soft cap, mirrors the $20,000 fine handed down to GWS footy manager Jason McCartney for his on-field altercation with Tom Papley in the first week of the finals.

While Hinkley was extremely fired up on the field after the three-point victory that may have saved his job, he was far more contrite a short time later in the post-match press conference.

Asked if his antics had taken the gloss off the win, Hinkley said: “Yeah, I regret the comment.

“That’s probably where I should stay and should’ve stayed out of that comment.

“But, I didn’t.”

Pushed on what he had said to Ginnivan, Hinkley replied: “I think that should just stay private.

Sicily didn’t hold back when fronting the media. Picture: Ben Clark

“No need to keep going there, it was a pretty good game of football I think.”

That was Hinkley attempting to turn the attention back to the game.

Sadly, Hinkley’s own actions stopped that from happening and nearly all the talk since has been about the post-match scenes, rather than one of the biggest and most important victories in the club’s AFL history.

Sicily also spoke to the media on Friday night and again on Saturday morning.

The Hawks captain revealed Ginnivan actually told the team he regretted his post in the lead-up to the big game.

While he regretted his part in taking attention away from Breust’s milestone moment, Sicily also made an interesting comment on how he views Hinkley.

“That’s probably the only thing I am disappointed in, that I wasn’t fully present in that (Breust) moment,” Sicily said.

“But it’s not the first time Ken has done that and it won’t be the last.”