Ken Hinkley hits out at ‘one person’ blame game after fourth prelim loss

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley wasn’t in the mood following the club’s preliminary final loss, hitting back at one assertion.

After Port Adelaide fell to Sydney in Friday night’s preliminary final, Ken Hinkley challenged the idea that the club’s finals failures should be drawn exclusively back to him — but he maintained he could ‘cop the brunt’.

The Power lost by 36 points at the SCG to be eliminated on preliminary final weekend for the fourth time under Hinkley.

The 57-year-old’s 12-year tenure, for its undeniable consistency between the months of March and August, remains marred by an inability to capitalise at the critical point of the season.

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Hinkley still holds one of the most unwanted records any football coach could possibly own — the VFL/AFL record for most games coached at any club without progressing to a Grand Final.

On Friday, Port Adelaide’s deficit widened at every change, with the Swans extending their advantage to a game-high 45 points early in the fourth quarter, having devastated the visitors off of turnover in addition to an overall dominance in transition.

Hinkley conceded that the better team won.

The Power went out on Friday night. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“Simply, yes. Unfortunately, I think they deserved to win,” he told reporters post-match.

“They deserved to play next week, they were the best team all year, and tonight they made us pay off turnover.

“It was a game of efficiency — they were just too clean when they had their chances — and we were very much the opposite, and we just didn’t have enough weapons to cause some problems in the front half.

“We gave them great looks — ridiculous looks, at times — against a Sydney Swans team who (are) really dominant when they’re running like that. They’re a high-quality team — we all accept it — they were the best team in the competition and finished on top of the ladder for a reason.

“We knew we were going to have to be absolutely at our best, (but) we just weren’t capable of going with them tonight.”

The loss represented Hinkley’s fourth preliminary final loss from four attempts as Port Adelaide coach, over the course of seven finals series.

“Right now, it’s really disappointing, because we came up here with optimism (about) trying to qualify for a Grand Final — we know how hard that is to do,” Hinkley said on Friday evening.

“We, as a footy club more than any, know how hard it is to try and get through that final step. It’s disappointing.

“I thought, as a club, we stuck together pretty well through the whole year, and we have ourselves a chance again, right to this point of the season, and I understand the story will be around we failed to get there.

“I think we had a decent crack at it.”

Ken Hinkley addressed the media after Port Adelaide's preliminary final loss to Sydney.

Hinkley was quizzed on his approach from prelim-to-prelim, given the club’s past failings on the penultimate weekend of the season.

“They’re quite spaced ... Even this team, it had 11 different players in it than our last preliminary final team, so there are so many things that are different,” he said.

“But you do (change), whether that be personnel, the style of football you play, there’s lots of things that we prepared (differently).

“There’s a lot of things we did different through the last four-to-six weeks of the season to make sure we gave ourselves a bit of a different feel and look coming into this game — or try and get to this game first and foremost — and then try and execute a (style) that could win in this game.”

Hinkley is certainly no stranger to the pressure and adversity synonymous with AFL senior-coaching, but his strong support network enables him to ‘cope’.

“I’ve had great support from family particularly, but also from my footy club, and we stick at it,” he said.

“We understand the storylines we go with my position, and it’s part of the job. I’m OK 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.”

Ken remains adamant he’s the man for the job. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Hinkley, who is contracted at Alberton for next season, didn’t admit to having ‘self-doubt’ but instead ‘reflection pieces’ — and he fought the notion that Port’s September shortcomings were solely because he steers the ship.

“Until you get through it (the preliminary final hurdle), you’ll always have some reflection pieces — I don’t know whether it’s doubt, but you have reflection pieces,” he said.

“I’m not silly enough not to have the knowledge that I have been the constant along with some other people at the footy club — but it’s not a one-person (thing), we should stop that story a little bit.

“This is a whole-of-club thing that goes on, it’s not one person responsible. If we had have gotten through tonight, it wouldn’t have been me. And if we didn’t get through tonight, it’d be us, and I think that’s the language we like to use at Port.

“It’s about us, not me necessarily, but I do understand that as the head coach you cop the brunt of that. And I’m OK with copping the brunt, but the reality is you can’t do this without a full club — you just can’t.

“No one person is going to do it on his own — whether that’s one player, whether that’s one coach, anything to do with the footy club — you need the whole club.”

The long-tenured mentor said there were some “real positives” regarding the team’s burgeoning youth, but he added those positives were “hard to talk about” given the bitter circumstances.

Asked to address the Port Adelaide supporters, Hinkley said his club would enter the pre-season with the same vigour as it had previously.

“We do what we do every year — we turn up with the intent to win,” he said, concluding.

“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 that’s the reality, we’ve been pretty brave.”

Originally published as Ken Hinkley hits out at ‘one person’ blame game after fourth prelim loss