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Opinion
It’s time to give Ken Hinkley the credit he deserves.
Port Adelaide’s coach has been under pressure for years, always a loss away from having the heat turned up. Particularly the last couple of seasons, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he’d depart the club.
Despite a minor premiership and three preliminary finals appearances, not many coaches make it to an eleventh season without making a grand final. It has been one of the many gripes supporters and neutral observers have had with the 56-year-old Hinkley.
There has seemingly been a results-focused rigidity about Port Adelaide for a long, long time. Traditionally, this is a team that has bullied lesser opposition, barely broken even against contenders and ultimately, harsh or otherwise, has always felt like the least convincing when it has finished in the top five.
Sure, new year’s resolutions may be malarkey to the general person, but if Hinkley’s 2023 doesn’t epitomise “new year, new me”, then it’s hard to believe anything could ever resemble the sentiment.
We’ve seen a completely new, almost revitalised version of the Power coach and it has been entirely refreshing for the club and viewers alike.
Optically, it has been fantastic but in practice, Hinkley has continued to right the perceived wrongs of previous seasons and that deserved a truckload of praise.
It’s extremely easy for veteran coaches to believe it’s their way or nothing, but like other successful coaches in the league, he has adjusted to the times.
In the coach’s box, we’ve seen attempts at hiding his frustration, blatant anger and him cutting a forlorn figure. At times, it can be demoralising.
Ken Hinkley the coach of the Power speaks to the media (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
This season, he has moved down to the boundary and isn’t afraid to express his emotions. Hinkley’s in constant dialogue with his players and looks almost as if he’s teaching them on the sidelines.
Consider the flow-on effect of a senior coach beaming pridefully and celebrating on the boundary line amongst the interchange bench and the impact that has on the players. Mix this with the pressure he has been under and it’s nigh-on inspirational for the entire group, a definite motivator for success.
Relying so heavily on Ollie Wines and Travis Boak may have brought on individual accolades and looks good when the team appears to be winning, but to favour veterans over the youth has always felt like an issue at Port. This became a universal thought when they started losing.
In 2021, Wines and Boak attended 74% of centre bounces. In 2022, it was 71% and 61% respectively, while Connor Rozee began to emerge.
In 2023, Connor Rozee has attended 72% of centre bounces, Jason Horne-Francis is at 61% and since Round 4, Zak Butters is around 65% attendance rate. Wines is down to 56% and Boak 16%.
Sure, some will argue that this should have happened 18-24 months ago and we cannot celebrate it as a result, but Hinkley’s willingness to go all-in on the young players and give them full confidence is a drastic shift that only happens with self-reflection.
The result has seen no drop-off at all in Port Adelaide’s clearance work and they’ve become the number one tackling team in the competition, with the tactical shifts that have seen Willem Drew take over from Ollie Wines at stoppages and the sheer hunger of the young trio on full display.
As a result, there’s a specialist linking outside role for Boak who has seen his kicking efficiency skyrocket as a linking player just outside the stoppages.
Defensively, individual players have been poor in one-on-ones – Aliir Aliir, Trent McKenzie and Tom Jonas are posting their career-worst numbers through the opening two months in terms of loss percentage.
Yet there’s a fully functional system in play here, and the desire to get games into Miles Bergman and Dylan Williams, to use Kane Farrell as the chief distributor out of defence as well as having stability in Dan Houston’s role, these are big ticks for Hinkley.
Last season, Port Adelaide conceded a score 43% of the time the opposition entered the 50. This season, it’s down to 40.3%, which is better than Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne and Brisbane, the four chief contenders for the premiership.
Jeremy Finlayson celebrates kicking the winning goal against Sydney. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
In fact, the Power are unlucky not to have a percentage closer to the top four, as their opponents have strung together the most accurate kicking in front of goal in the league, while Port themselves have been the second-most inaccurate team in the league.
Then, there has been the concern that in having the likes of Wines be the chief midfielder in the team, offensive efficiency and meaningful offensive ball movement has been lacking.
Port has gone from 10th to 6th for inside 50s and from scoring 43.1% of the time they enter, to 46.2%, higher than Melbourne and Collingwood.
He has thrown Darcy Byrne-Jones forward who leads the team for goal assists, has given Jed McEntee opportunities to develop and put Sam Powell-Pepper in positions to succeed and have genuine impacts on games.
In years gone by, there was a hyper-fixation on playing Scott Lycett.
In absences of key forwards, it would’ve been easy to bring the veteran in as an easy fix. Instead, Hinkley went to Ollie Lord, to give him some senior exposure.
Moving Brynn Teakle into the senior fold and playing Jeremy Finlayson as a floating utility, these are important moves to make to bring the best out of players and moves that perhaps were too risky in the past, when wins were easier to come by.
Even off the field, the way Hinkley has supported Horne-Francis in the media and given him the keys to the midfield on the park, this is what a quality, long-term senior coach looks like.
On the whole, the Power have won five games in a row and sit fifth on the ladder, but with wins against Brisbane, Sydney, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Essendon, this year feels different to others thanks to their coach.
Is this team a genuine contender for the flag?
The numbers are pretty good and the shifting in styles depending on opponent has been great – they played St Kilda differently to the way the played the Bulldogs and succeeded in both.
They mightn’t quite be at the level overall of the best teams in the league, but Hinkley has completely transformed his team and his own coaching, to the point where this feels like a building team with potential, rather than a veteran-led pretender.
Whatever criticisms we’ve had of him in the past, Hinkley has worked hard to address them and has worked towards earning himself a new deal, to oversee the future of this playing group.
We knew what we were getting from Ross Lyon, even if St Kilda’s season has been surprising. Brad Scott too, was a known commodity and has made Essendon a competitive finals contender.
But the transformation of Port Adelaide and their senior coach, that has been the biggest swing factor in the competition this season.
It’s time release the pressure valve on Ken Hinkley and give him the credit he deserves, for turning the Power into an exciting, younger team on the brink of success.