AFL Finals: All the news and fallout from Port Adelaide’s loss as Aliir Aliir reveals post-match feeling, Ken Hinkley stands up to criticism
For the fourth time under Ken Hinkley, Port Adelaide fell at the preliminary final hurdle. Power defender Aliir Aliir opens up on what the latest failure means to the group. Plus, Ken hits back.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Aliir Aliir’s raw response summed up the mood in Port Adelaide’s change rooms.
“It’s a shit feeling,” the key defender told The Advertiser.
The Power’s excitement from last week’s three-point home semi-final win over Hawthorn and the hope that a first grand final in 17 years might be around the corner had dissipated.
Replacing those emotions were frustration at a poor preliminary final performance and disappointment that winning 16 of 23 minor-round games had not led to the flag the club so desperately wanted.
For Aliir, Friday night’s 36-point loss to Sydney at the SCG hit a little harder because his friends and former teammates in red and white celebrated reaching a second grand final since his arrival at Alberton four years ago.
“There’s all different emotions,” he said.
“You’re one game away from a grand final and your season ends, and we didn’t play well.
“It’s tough because you’re just so close to it.
“The way we were, especially in the back half of the season, able to battle and get stuff right ... gave ourselves an opportunity to play in a prelim.
“But you’ve got to come out and perform and we didn’t.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Sydney.”
The Power rooms were unsurprisingly quiet post-match.
You know how a crowd falls silent when someone speaks on stage.
It was like that when entering through the doors, except no one was making a speech.
Players were hugging family members and talking to them at almost a whisper.
10 of Port’s 23-man squad had experienced a preliminary final defeat before with the Power, which had now lost all four it had made in 12 seasons under coach Ken Hinkley.
The Swans defeat was nowhere near as bad as the 71-point smashing of 2021 against the Western Bulldogs at home.
But it was far from the ifs, buts and maybes results of 2014 (three points to Hawthorn at the MCG) or 2020 (six to Richmond at Adelaide Oval).
“We worked so hard to get here and didn’t take our opportunities,” said Aliir, who was one of the Power’s best on Friday night.
“I think we prepared pretty well, we had great training sessions throughout the week, we did the oppo work we needed ... but we just weren’t able to perform.
“Credit to Sydney, they moved the ball the way they wanted to do it and punished us on turnovers.
“Us as defenders were slow to get up and locate (opponents).
“We gave ourselves opportunities going inside 50 but the ball came back too quickly.
“That’s not just on the forwards, it’s on all of us.
“We’re just disappointed with the way we played.”
Aliir remained optimistic the Power could get back to this position and take the next step in 2025.
“Obviously everything is still raw but it’s about refreshing first, coming back day one of pre-season ready to go and I know the boys will be hungry,” he said.
“I’m confident in the boys that we’ve got.”
‘It’s about us, not me’: Ken hits back after another prelim failure
– Sean Teuma
For the third time in five years, Port Adelaide has stumbled at the final hurdle before the grand final.
The Power was soundly beaten to the tune of 36 points by a dominant Sydney side as they search for answers on how to get over the hump.
For Ken Hinkley, it’s the fourth time as Port coach that he has fallen at this game.
But he stood up to criticism that he alone should cop the wrath of another preliminary final defeat.
“I’m not silly enough to not acknowledge that I have been the constant, along with some other people at the footy club,” he said.
“It’s not a one-person (job). We should stop that story. This is a whole of club thing that goes on, it’s not one person responsible.
“If we got through tonight, it wouldn’t have been me. If we didn’t get through tonight, it would be us.
“That’s the language we like to use at Port. It’s about us, not me necessarily. But I do understand as head coach you cop the brunt of that.
“I’m okay with copping the brunt, but the reality is you can’t do this without a full club.
“No one person is going to do it on his own, whether that’s one player, one coach, anything to do with the footy club.”
Hinkley’s job has come under the microscope as to whether he is the main to lead the Power in the future, however he said he is remaining resilient through the constant talk.
“I’ve had great support from my family and my footy club,” he said.
“We stick at it. We understand the storylines that go with my position and it’s part of the job.
“I’m okay with that. I can deal with that. I don’t necessarily enjoy it but the reality is it’s part of what I do and if I can’t cope I shouldn’t be here.”
Hinkley reflected on a disappointing end to the season, but paid tribute to the efforts of his players.
“We do what we do every year. We turn up with the intent to win,” he said.
“We haven’t been able to get to the final stage of trying to win, but we’ve been pretty brave.
“I know people won’t like that, but it’s the reality. I think we’ve been pretty brave.”
Originally published as AFL Finals: All the news and fallout from Port Adelaide’s loss as Aliir Aliir reveals post-match feeling, Ken Hinkley stands up to criticism
‘Absolute blunder’: Essendon’s ‘staggering’ draft move smashed
The Bombers had a relatively quiet trade period by their standards, with their focus on Isaac Kako. Now after securing the small forward, their method has been whacked by a draft expert.
Tiger delight as North pays heavy price for final draft night pick
On a night where little caused a surprise, North Melbourne waited until the last moment to pull a stunner, paying a significant price and taking an even more significant risk.