Robbo: Port Adelaide should extend Ken Hinkley’s contract now as Power charge towards finals

The Power are flying and now is the time to extend their coach’s contract. Even thinking about the prospect of pulling the pin on Ken is ridiculous, writes Mark Robinson.

David Koch is a smart man.

His head of football at Port Adelaide Chris Davies is a smarter football man.

They know. They see and feel it. The buzz words like connection and morale and effort. They see the buy-in from the players.

They even see Kenny Hinkley doing Irish-style jigs on the boundary line. We don’t know how good a dancer he is, but we know he can coach.

Ken Hinkley and David Koch in Shanghai in 2017. Picture: Port Adelaide FC/Twitter.

Most of all, Koch and Davies see the scoreboard.

Effort without wins can kill coaches and in his 11th season at Port Adelaide, a gallant, scavenging 11th-placed finish won’t cut it. Hinkley would be gone.

But effort that brings victory underpins everything that is successful about a team and a football club.

Hinkley is coaching circa 2013-2014, when Port Adelaide had a never-say-die mantra.

This season, in its run of seven consecutive games, Port Adelaide was behind in the last quarter in five of those games — against Brisbane, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Sydney and Melbourne — and won the points.

His teams fight. Last Friday night, Melbourne kicked seven goals to one in the third quarter, and Hinkley was able to find the mechanism to turn it around in the final term.

He is not unlike Collingwood coach Craig McRae, in believing that belief can move mountains.

Even last season, when Port started 0-5, it would’ve been easy to toss in the towel. No, Port finished the season with a 10-7 record.

From round six last year, their home and away record is 18-9, which is equal with Melbourne and only bettered by Collingwood (23-4), Geelong (20-7) and Brisbane (19-8).

With a transitional midfield, led by Rozee, Butters and Horne-Francis, and other young players such as Drew, Bergman and Dylan Williams, Port is playing big boys footy.

And Hinkley is coaching his socks off.

Hinkley has his Power players firing. Picture: Getty Images

If processes are followed, it will be Davies who will recommend to the Port board whether Hinkley should be offered a new contract or not.

Discussions between Hinkley’s manager Peter Blucher and Davies will begin in August. They could take a week. They could take two months.

It’s an unusual timeline. Most coaches are sacked three-quarters of the way through the season. Hinkley might not know if he is sacked until after the season.

Port says it won’t change its timeline, but as several commentators asked at the weekend, what does Port need to know that they don’t already know about their coach?

It’s a results business. So, does he need to win one final, get to the preliminary final, win the grand final? What’s the pass mark, Kochie?

Port should reappoint him now. Koch and Davies surely see what we all see, a coach and his players so together that even thinking about the prospect of Hinkley not being at Port next year is ridiculous.

He knocked back the opportunity to apply for the Essendon job because of loyalty to his players and his passion for the club. Even if, say, the Suns moved on Stewie Dew and offered Hinkley a five-year deal, he would reject it for a two-year deal at Port Adelaide.

He’s invested in the club, better still the players are invested in him and it’s time the club was long-time invested in their coach.

Originally published as Robbo: Port Adelaide should extend Ken Hinkley’s contract now as Power charge towards finals