AFL 2024: All the latest Port Adelaide news as under fire coach Ken Hinkley responds
Under fire Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley remains confident his message is getting through – but what does he think of the public silence from club leaders David Koch and Matthew Richardson?
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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has vowed to fight for his job as pressure and speculation ramps up around his position ahead of the crucial clash with St Kilda on Saturday.
The under-fire Hinkley remains confident his message is getting through to his players and is adamant the club is not “a one-man show”.
“I’ve been brought up a fighter, that’s how I’ve been brought up so that’s what I’ll do,” Hinkley declared, revealing wingman Will Lorenz will debut against the Saints at Marvel Stadium.
He also said he was fine with neither Power chairman David Koch or chief executive Matthew Richardson going public after he was booed by a section of the Port crowd at Adelaide Oval in the horror loss to Brisbane – and the speculation around his position that has followed.
Hinkley is contracted until the end of next season but the pressure on his position has reached a new level after the Power’s thumping at the hands of the Lions last week – and the reaction from fans that has followed.
Ahead of a crunch clash against St Kilda on Sunday, Hinkley said he accepted it was part of the job – especially given how long he has been at Alberton.
“My reaction is simple and straight forward, I have to go to work and try to do my absolute best in the footy club to get the club and the team back on track,” he said.
“Every team bar one this season has had a time where they haven’t played near where they would like to and it is currently our turn.
“So all my energy has been around trying to turn this around quickly.
“It is hard, everyone talks around the outside noise and sometimes it is hard to block that entirely out.
“But we are really calm about what we need to do, and we just have to go about doing it.
“It is fair and reasonable to talk around, but the reality for me is that it is not a one-man show, it is a team, it is a team approach.
“I get the attention turns to me as the head coach and I accept and deal with that responsibility.
“I’m OK with everything that is going on, I would much prefer that we are talking about how well we are playing and the excitement around our players but the reality is that we haven’t been winning and the attention gets turned up.”
Neither Koch or Richardson have gone public in any way to address the irate supporters this week.
Senior assistant Josh Carr, vice-captain Zak Butters and leadership group member Willem Drew have led the defence of the under pressure coach – something Hinkley said he was fine with.
“That is not my situation, I get to talk to lots of people during the week at the club and I get good comfort around what is happening internally,” he said.
“I talk to our staff, I talk to our players, I talk to our coaches, I talk to our board. We have those things going on every week not just this week.
“We know how to handle these things internally.”
Part of the debate around Hinkley’s position externally has focused around if his message was still getting through to players.
He said it was, and he was still confident he was the man for the job.
“Clearly I think the message is still getting through,” he said.
“If it was too fatiguing I wouldn’t be here, it is OK, I deal with it. I know it is part of the territory.
“The reality is that I understand the amount of time that I have been here that the pressure will come.
“Is that right or wrong? It is not for me to judge.
“I’m confident in myself because the reaction we get as a team, it is not myself, it is the team and what we have to go about doing.
“And consistently we have been able to win lots of games of footy, clearly we have some issues at different times and in finals at times we haven’t played as well as we would like to.
“But we turn up more often than not and give ourselves a chance, we haven’t in the last three weeks.”
Lorenz will play his first AFL game after being selected at pick 57 in last year’s draft.
“He has played really well in a team that has had to battle really hard at SANFL level,” Hinkley said.
But the Power will again be without Willie Rioli, with the important small forward now unwell after missing the last three games with a calf issue.
“When it rains it pours,” Hinkley said.
“Poor Junior is at home in bed at the moment.”
‘Not true’: Port leader says Hinkley hasn’t lost the players
Port Adelaide leadership group member Willem Drew says under pressure senior coach Ken Hinkley has not lost the playing group at the Power.
Hinkley was booed off Adelaide Oval last weekend by Power fans – the ones that didn’t leave early – after his side conceded 12 consecutive goals to Brisbane in a humiliating 79-point defeat at home.
The loss has intensified the scrutiny on Hinkley, who is contracted until the end of next year, and his future at Alberton.
Some of the scrutiny on the Power has focused on a perceived lack of effort and pressure by players in the losses to GWS and the Lions.
This has prompted questions about whether Hinkley’s message is getting through to the playing group, and even if they are playing for him.
Ahead of what looms as a crunch clash against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, Drew said Hinkley had not lost the playing group.
“Not true to start with, I don’t think he has lost the playing group at all,” he said.
“There has been a fair bit said but internally we are all on the same team, we all want to win, Kenny wants to win, the coaches want to win, us players want to win.
“So it is about getting back to our best form.
“Kenny has been around for a long time, he has been around this playing group for a while as well and he knows that we all support him and have his back.”
There was a players-only meeting this week, but Drew said it wasn’t “out of the blue”.
“We’ve done multiple of them throughout the year and in previous years as well so it wasn’t out of the blue,” he said.
“It was just around having some conversations, realising where we are at and what we need to do to get better.”
The Power are still in the top eight, but the three losses on the bounce have had Port becoming increasingly written off as contenders externally.
Drew said the Power could get its season back on track.
“A month ago we were top two and then we had three bad games in a row, we are still in the top eight and have nine games to get our season back on track,” he said.
Key defender Esava Ratugolea could be in some doubt to take on the Saints after he left the training track early on Thursday with a hamstring issue.
PORT STAR’S ‘UNWAVERING’ HINKLEY SUPPORT AS PRESSURE MOUNTS
Port Adelaide star Zak Butters has launched a staunch defence of under fire coach Ken Hinkley ahead of the Power’s crunch clash with the Saints on Sunday.
The Port Adelaide vice-captain said it wasn’t the coach who should be feeling the full brunt of the blame.
“I don’t think it’s all on Kenny, that’s definitely not the case and the playing group knows that,” Butters said on SEN SA.
“I love Kenny whether he’s my coach or not, it’s unwavering from my end and I know the boys are in the same boat.
“The message is definitely still getting through, and we have a lot of respect for Kenny, I know that he wants the best for us and that’s to make us better, to win football games, ultimately try and play finals footy and get our fans on board.”
“We’ve been around the club for five or six years now, and we’ve seen these periods, especially with Ken and our supporter base. I wouldn’t say it’s anything unusual
“The way he handles himself in these moments in front of the group, it’s really professional and nothing changes from his coaching aspect, the way he handles his emotions or shows up every day.
“We couldn’t ask for much more from him.”
A crowd of 32,863 turned up on Saturday afternoon, but many were spotted streaming out the gates early as the Power slumped to 8-6 and was left clinging to a spot in the top-eight.
Butters said he understood the frustration of a passionate supporter base after the dismal performance.
“I think winning games are probably the number one thing that they want to see,” he said.
“But I think also they’re a pretty passionate, supporter base and most of us athletes are pretty passionate people.
“The way we lost on the weekend isn’t sort of Port Adelaide style and going down really trying and leaving it all out there.
“At the end of the day, our supporters always show up and leave it all out there.
“They just want the same from us, so I can understand that.”
Port travels to Melbourne this weekend for what is now a vital Sunday afternoon fixture against St Kilda without wingman Jase Burgoyne, who is set to miss a fortnight with a hamstring strain.
Important small forward Willie Rioli, who was a late withdrawal last week, is in line to return, but, after three consecutive losses, the Power looks set to start as outsiders against the 14th-ranked Saints.
Originally published as AFL 2024: All the latest Port Adelaide news as under fire coach Ken Hinkley responds
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