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With Rodney Eade receiving the sack by the Suns during the week after three dismal seasons, it seems speculation will now move to other teams and their coaches. Nathan Buckley and Ken Hinkley’s teams have each had different stories for their team this year.
Let’s start with Nathan Buckley.
A loved club figure by many Pies fans, Buckley was seen as a great player by many die-hard Collingwood supporters, winning a Brownlow Medal, a Norm Smith Medal, and receiving seven All-Australian nominations across his 280-game career.
He retired at the end of 2007, taking a few years away from the club before joining them as an assistant coach at the end of 2010. He took over the reins of the Pies from former premiership coach Mick Malthouse following the 2011 season, as per previously planned.
2012 was a success, winning sixteen games during the home-and-away season to finish fourth.
The finals didn’t quite go their way, unlike previous seasons, going down to Hawthorn by 38 points in the qualifying final, winning their semi-final against West Coast by 13 points, then losing to eventual premiers Sydney by 26 points in their preliminary final. Their finals win against West Coast would be Buckley’s only finals win as a coach to date.
The departure of premiership players would start at the end of 2012, with Sharrod Wellingham and Chris Dawes leaving to West Coast and Melbourne respectively, and Chris Tarrant retiring.
In the draft that year, they took Brodie Grundy, Ben Kennedy, Tim Broomhead, Jackson Ramsay, Kyle Martin, Sam Dwyer, Adam Oxley, and Jack Frost, with Grundy the only one looking a star five years later.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
2013 resulted in the mighty Pies sliding down the ladder, winning 14 games throughout the season to finish sixth. They went on to lose their elimination final to, guess who, Port Adelaide by 24 points. Once again, premiership players left the club and they struggled to use their draft picks efficiently.
Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw left the club for Carlton and the Giants, and they gained Taylor Adams who has been quality for the Pies. Ben Johnson retired, while Alan Didak and Darren Jolly were given the chop from the list. They drafted Matt Scharenberg, Nathan Freeman, Tom Langdon, and Jonathon Marsh, with only Tom Langdon making an impact for the team four years into their career.
In 2014, they missed finals, once again sliding down the ladder, splitting the ledger to finish 11th. Heriter Lumumba and Dayne Beams requested to be traded, with the club picking up Jack Crisp and Travis Varcoe, which appears to be a win to date, however, Varcoe is ageing.
Former skipper Nick Maxwell and Luke Ball retired, leaving only ten premiership players on the list after five years, three years after Buckley became the head coach. It was insisted that he was transforming the list and making it his own, which he continued. They managed to get their hands on Jordan De Goey, Darcy Moore, Brayden Maynard, Matt Goodyear, Michael Manteit, Brenden Abbott, and Mason Cox, with three of those players currently looking like future stars.
They finished 12th in 2015, winning ten games to continue their sliding trend. They managed to get Adam Treloar and James Aish, and were highly favoured to break their finals drought with those recruitments.
They selected Brayden Sier, Tom Phillips, Rupert Wills, Ben Crocker, Josh Smith, Tim Golds, and Darrean Wyatt, with none making much impact to date.
They once again failed to make finals in 2016, winning nine games. Travis Cloke and Nathan Brown departed to the Dogs and Saints respectively, with Brent Macaffer, Alan Toovey, and Dane Swan retiring, to leave only five premiership players on the list. They made some questionable recruiting choices, poaching Daniel Wells and Chris Mayne to the Holden Centre. It’s too early to tell how their draftees from 2016 will fare.
Collingwood currently sit thirteenth, having a record of 8-11-1 after 20 games, and are all but locked out of finals. Wells has turned out to be a strong recruit, seeing the Pies are 7-2-1 with him in the side. Mayne has turned out as one of the worst recruits of all time, and that’s saying something.
There appears to be an unhealthy reliance on Daniel Wells, much like Gold Coast with Gary Ablett and Geelong with Danger-wood.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Now for Ken Hinkley.
Hinkley has Port Adelaide sitting in the top eight this year where they look set for the finals. Credit where it is due, he has taken a horrible team and made them quality opposition since 2013.
They won 12 games in Hinkley’s first year to play finals. He led them to an elimination final win over Collingwood by 24 points, before going down by 16 points to Geelong at the MCG.
Despite many tips for Port Adelaide to miss the finals, they went even further. They won ten of their first 11 games, however, the power went out for them temporarily to finish fifth with only fourteen wins.
They absolutely thrashed Richmond by 57 points in an elimination final, beat Fremantle by 22 points in the semis, then went down to eventual premiers Hawthorn by less than a kick in a thrilling match.
The next few years were very mediocre, winning 12 games in 2015 to finish ninth, Richmond’s favourite ladder position. The following year, they went further down the ladder, winning ten games to finish tenth. Going into this year, it was either finals or bust for Ken Hinkley.
(AAP Image/Ben Macmahon)
They currently sit in sixth, having a record of 12-8. So far this season, they have beat Swans during their 0-6 start, Fremantle, Carlton, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, Collingwood, West Coast, North Melbourne, and St Kilda. The most impressive of this list has been the Swans, who sit above Port in fifth.
If the Power played the Swans now though, would they win? Probably not.
West Coast is the second best on this list, but are unlikely to make finals, and will struggle to win a final due to their inability to beat a top eight side.
If Port Adelaide want to be a serious premiership contender, they must get rid of Ken Hinkley. As for Collingwood, unless they want another year of mediocrity, Buckley must be shown the door.
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