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Ken Hinkley will coach Port Adelaide in 2023 says David Koch, Power contract

Ken Hinkley will coach Port Adelaide in 2023 says David Koch, Power contract

Port Adelaide president David Koch has emphatically declared Ken Hinkley will see out his current contract and coach the club in 2023.

A question mark had been hovering over Hinkley and his position at the Power, despite being contracted to the club until next year and his defiant AFL 360 interview on Monday night where he said he expected to be at Alberton next year.

Amid mounting criticism over Hinkley’s coaching from fans, Koch said earlier this week “every single person’s role” would be assessed at the end of the season, which has seen the Power drop out of finals contention after back-to-back preliminary final runs.

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Koch spoke on 5AA radio on Monday and conceded the club was “not afraid to make change.” His comment from him, “turn it around or watch out”, fueled speculation there could be sweeping changes to the club’s football department.

But Koch confirmed to 7 News Adelaide on Thursday night Hinkley would remain at Alberton.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley with Chairman David Koch.Source: Twitter

“Obviously, for all of us, this season has been a major disappointment … (and) as we always do, we’ll thoroughly assess our football program at season’s end,” Koch told 7 News Adelaide.

“But, as the club has maintained all year, Ken Hinkley is contracted and will be our coach in 2023

“Prior to this season, Ken led us to two consecutive preliminary finals.

“Some will argue we should make a change based on our performance this season alone and that Ken has never taken the team to a grand finale.

“But we base decisions on all the information in front of us.

“We believe Ken gives us the best chance of successfully rebounding next season, of successfully attracting new talent and football department resources to make us better.”

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Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Thursday night, St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said it was a “big backflip” from Koch that should never have happened.

“I like it from the point of view that it provides fodder for all of us to talk about, but Ken Hinkley must get to the end of the week and think: ‘What did I just go and endure – and for what?’” a passionate Riewoldt said on AFL 360.

“So Kochie comes out on Monday saying what he said after the CEO, the footy manager, everyone else in the club has been on the same page – and five days later he backflips on the statement? He could’ve said on Monday what he said tonight, but he chose not to – and by omission, he put Ken Hinkley under ridiculous, undue pressure this week. It was really poor.

“I think Ken’s probably got a reasonable tolerance for it now after all of this time, but I’d be scratching my head.”

Hinkley is Port’s second longest serving coach, behind the club’s sole AFL premiership coach in Mark Williams.

In his 10 seasons in charge, Hinkley has steered the Power to finals in four seasons and has a 60.8 per cent win rate from his 212 games as coach.

When asked directly on AFL 360 if he felt any uncertainty as coach after Koch’s “turn it around or watch out” comments, Hinkley replied: “No, no I don’t”.

Koch statement awkward for Hinkley? | 01:36

“David (Koch) himself has said that he expects me to be coaching Port Adelaide in 2023, as I do and that’s what I am preparing for,” he said.

“I think I’ve been given enough assurances (he’ll see out his deal) through the season, not that I needed them to be fair.

“We all get there’s a finish line for everyone at some point.

“But as I sit here tonight, I’m more than confident that that won’t be at the end of 2022.”

Hinkley said despite the outside pressure, his players “100 per cent” continued to back him in for an 11th season in 2023 – and final year of his current contract — saying:

“My players, they play for me every week. They play for us every week.

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Kane Cornes slams Port Adelaide boss David Koch’s ‘watch out’ warning amid Ken Hinkley drama

Kane Cornes slams Port Adelaide boss David Koch's 'watch out' warning amid Ken Hinkley drama

Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes has blasted club chairman David Koch after he appeared to say no one’s job is safe after a horror 2022 season.

The team has made the preliminary final in the last two seasons but not been able to get over the hump to a grand final but have slumped to miss the playoffs, sitting 14 points out of the finals with just two matches remaining.

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It was a slump few saw coming and sparked fury from certain supporters, who plastered a “sack Hinkley” poster over a sign near the club’s headquarters last week.

Although Hinkley brushed it off, his ears no doubt would have pricked up when Koch appeared to state on radio he was “not afraid to make change”.

“It’s not just about one individual person, it’s the whole program. Turn it around or watch out,” Koch told Fiveaa on Monday.

“Every single person’s role will be assessed at the end of the year, as we do each year.”

But for Cornes, those comments were not good enough, believing Koch had bowed to the pressure from the loudest voices.

“This is a classic example of a chairman kicking with the breeze,” he said on SEN SA Breakfast.

“He had felt the angst from the supporter group, he felt like he needed to make a strong statement to alleviate some of the concerns from the very Port Adelaide supporter group who share their feedback regularly.

“Their desire to sack Ken Hinkley right now, Kochie (Koch) listened to that and he’s said, ‘even though my language has been one way all year, with two games to go I’m going to alleviate some of the concerns from the Port Adelaide supporter group and make a big, strong, sweeping statement about the coaching with two weeks to go’: ‘turn it around or watch out’.

“Turn what around? There are two weeks left in the season. What do you need to know in the next two weeks regarding Ken Hinkley’s ability to coach this club that you haven’t already discovered in the last ten years?

“Either make a call or back him in… ‘turn it around or watch out’, what a ridiculous thing to say.”

Although it appeared to be somewhat supportive of Hinkley’s position, Cornes continued, calling for Koch to make a decision, whether sacking the long-term coach or wholeheartedly committing.

“The thing that David Koch needs to do is make a call, is he your coach or is he not your coach?” Cornes continued.

“And if he’s not your coach, you have to tell him now so that he has the opportunity and you give him the respect to go and find another job.

“There are two vacant coaching jobs right now that Ken Hinkley would absolutely be in the mix for, but he can’t be in the mix for it if he thinks he’s going to be coaching Port Adelaide next year.

“Conversely, if he is your guy and you’ve contracted him for next year, which they have, back him in now. There’s nothing to be learned in the next two weeks that you don’t already know and you haven’t already discovered in the last 10 weeks.

“It was a stupid thing to say, it sent the media into a spin and it now has everyone questioning if Ken Hinkley will be there next year.”

Hinkley has coached Port Adelaide since 2013 and twice won AFLCA coach of the year but the Power have not made a grand final since 2007.

Hinkley is the second longest-serving coach behind only Mark Williams, the club’s sole AFL premiership winner.

Hinkley’s contract runs until the end of 2023.

Despite the comments, he told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 he knew where he stood as Port Adelaide coach.

“David (Koch) himself has said that he expects me to be coaching Port Adelaide in 2023, as I do and that’s what I am preparing for,” he said.

“I think I’ve been given enough assurances (he’ll see out his deal) through the season, not that I needed them to be fair.

“We all get there’s a finish line for everyone at some point.

“But as I sit here tonight, I’m more than confident that that won’t be at the end of 2022.”

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Jemima Montag wins 10km walk, grandmother’s bracelet

Commonwealth Games 2022: Jemima Montag wins 10km walk, grandmother's bracelet

Aussie hero Jemima Montag wasn’t alone out there as she powered to an incredible back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 10km walk.

The 24-year-old inspired the country all over again as she covered the distance in an incredible time of 42 minutes.

She says she had her own special kind of inspiration hanging on her wrist the entire walk.

An emotional Montag opened up about the special connection she has to her late grandmother through a piece of jewelery that once belonged to the Holocaust survivor after crossing the finish line.

Australian Associated Press reports the bracelet was cut into three pieces two years before Judith’s death with one piece each given to Jemimia and her two sisters.

Montag’s grandmother survived the trauma and terror of Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War 2.

Judith missed Montag’s special moment on Sunday morning and her competition at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, however, she was there to see Montag win gold on the Gold Coast four years ago.

She said she draws inspiration from reading about her brave grandmother and even tracked down and translated old letters she had from when she was just 12 years old in the Nazi work camp.

“In some of her love letters and journal entries she wrote about just trying to make it through the next hour, the next day, just hoping to meet her dad at the gate with a piece of bread,” Montag said.

“What I take from that is in a race, it’s one kilometer at a time, it’s one step at a time, not thinking about the finish line.

“You just had to have such a careful balance of taking risks and being a little cheeky when it was possible.

“Stealing scraps of food, running from one line to the other if it meant not being put to the gas chamber, and then sticking by the rules, when it was the right thing to do so.”

She said she regularly thinks about some of her grandma’s shattering experiences when looking for that little bit more courage and fight when she is out on the track.

“They marched through snow and cold for days on end in little sandals, and hardly any clothing,” she said.

“She and her sister took their waist bands and tied their wrists together and they said ‘we’re getting through this together or not at all.’

“So just visualizing her walking on ice, not knowing when her next meal would be or if she’d survive.

“This (race walking) is fun and this is something I choose to do and yes, it’s hard, but someone just two generations ago had that level of strength and I know it’s with me now.”

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Daniel Golubovic, Cedric Dubler, Decathlon results

Daniel Golubovic, Cedric Dubler, Decathlon results

Australia has had a double-medal finish in the men’s decathlon for the first time in a century in an extraordinary end to the event on Saturday morning (AEST).

Daniel Golubovic and Cedric Dubler fell agonizingly short as they desperately tried to steal the gold medal from Grenada’s Victor Lindon in the final 1500m run.

Dubler, a national hero from his viral act of mateship during at the Tokyo Olympics, went into the final night session with a lead of 39 points with only the javelin and 1500m to go.

However, he was brought undone by a fifth place finish in the javelin and simply had too many points to try and catch up in the 1500m.

Golubovic put together a colossal effort in the final event, crossing the finish line first to take the silver medal with a final score of 8197 points.

Day 8 WRAP: ‘National disgrace’ rocks Comm Games as Hockeyroos survive shootout

Daniel Golubovic congratulates an exhausted Lindon Victor at the finish line. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.
Daniel Golubovic congratulates an exhausted Lindon Victor at the finish line. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.Source: AFP
Cedric Dubler and Daniel Golubović.Source: AFP

Lindon was more than 100m behind Golubovic as the Aussie crossed the line.

With the Grenadian looking dead on his feet with 25m to run, it suddenly appeared that Golubovic was about to take the gold. He needed to win by more than 23 seconds.

However, Lindon fell over the line with two seconds to spare. Dubler, who took the bronze medal, Golubovic and Lindon were all left waiting to see the exact results show up on the big screen before they could learn who had won the gold medal.

It eventually showed up on the screen that Lindon had done enough to fall over the line with a final score of 8233. Dubler finished with 8030.

Golubovic was smiling through the heartbreak at the end of the race.

Lindon Victor and Kurt Felix of Team Grenada, Harry Kendall of Team England, Alec Diamond, Daniel Golubovic and Cedric Dubler of Team Australia and Karo Iga of Team Papua New Guinea celebrate at the end of their ten events. Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images

“Thank you, I had to dig for that,” Golubovic said afterwards.

“It is cold out here and there is nothing in the works. Two decathlons in 12 days – I don’t recommend it.

“It’s been an incredible experience, coming down and moving back to Australia and back to Brisbane during COVID, it’s been a wild few years and it’s been a long process to get here. It feels so good to be on this stage right now.

He said he is looking forward to getting some sleep after completing two decathlon events in the space of two weeks, after also competing at the world championships in Oregon last month.

“Tired. Very tired,” he said when asked how he felt in an interview with Channel 7.

“It was a tough race, I knew it was going to be, I had to leave everything out on the line and we did just that, that was every possible thing I could leave out on the track, and it landed where it did, but I am so incredibly proud to have performed the way I did and backed it up two times in a row and to have it come down to the 1500 was a lot of fun.”

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Muzala Samukonga collapses in men’s 400m heat results, athletics news

Commonwealth Games 2022: Muzala Samukonga collapses in men's 400m heat results, athletics news

You don’t win gold in the qualifying rounds — and now teen star Muzala Samukonga knows it better than anyone.

The Zambian runner smoked the field in the heats of the men’s 400m at Alexander Stadium on Wednesday night (AEST), powering all the way to the finish line to shave 0.13 seconds off his personal best.

However, he collapsed on the ground after crossing the line and appeared to be in distress as officials attended to him.

The 19-year-old won Heat 5 by more than 10m from his nearest competitor and went through to the semi-finals with the fastest time of 44.89 seconds — the first time he has ever gone under the 45 second mark.

However, he might have paid a hefty price for running the personal best and he was seen clutching at his left hamstring after crossing the line. In a confronting sight, he was also seen to be punching his upper leg as he grimaced on the ground.

After attempting to get to his feet, Samukonga fell back to the ground before a wheelchair was brought out to carry him out of the stadium.

It appeared to be a case of severe cramp and Aussie athletics great Tamsyn Manou said she suspects Samukonga was suffering from “lactic acid pain”.

“He’s in liquor there. Definite all sorts,” the former Olympian told Channel 7.

“That’s just lactic acid pain pulsating through those legs.”

When asked what that feels like, Manou responded: “It’s horrendous. He’s got it that badly. He’s got it really bad. He’s going to take a while to recover from that.

“He’s going to need an ice bath for a while.”

His participation in the semi-finals on Saturday morning (AEST) has not been confirmed.

Former British middle-distance runner Tim Hutchings told the Commonwealth Games host broadcasting service Samukonga brought it on himself.

“Maybe he thought I may never get a chance to run sub-45 (seconds) again,” Hutchings said.

“I think most coaches would say, ‘it’s great to run a personal best, but actually this is just extravagant and you will pay for it’.

“That’s a 10m winning margin — and more by the time he hits the line.

“Really, really unnecessary. No one else goes under 46 seconds.

“He runs 44.89 seconds and dare I say, he’s the word naive.

“An incredible run, but I hope that’s not the last we see of him in Birmingham.”

Aussie Steve Solomon also moved through to the semi-finals as the sixth-quickest overall qualifier after finishing second in his heat with a time of 45.98 seconds.

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Muzala Samukonga collapses in men’s 400m heat results, athletics news

Commonwealth Games 2022: Muzala Samukonga collapses in men's 400m heat results, athletics news

You don’t win gold in the qualifying rounds — and now teen star Muzala Samukonga knows it better than anyone.

The Zambian runner smoked the field in the heats of the men’s 400m at Alexander Stadium on Wednesday night (AEST), powering all the way to the finish line to shave 0.13 seconds off his personal best.

However, he collapsed on the ground after crossing the line and appeared to be in distress as officials attended to him.

The 19-year-old won Heat 5 by more than 10m from his nearest competitor and went through to the semi-finals with the fastest time of 44.89 seconds — the first time he has ever gone under the 45 second mark.

However, he might have paid a hefty price for running the personal best and he was seen clutching at his left hamstring after crossing the line. In a confronting sight, he was also seen to be punching his upper leg as he grimaced on the ground.

After attempting to get to his feet, Samukonga fell back to the ground before a wheelchair was brought out to carry him out of the stadium.

It appeared to be a case of severe cramp and Aussie athletics great Tamsyn Manou said she suspects Samukonga was suffering from “lactic acid pain”.

“He’s in liquor there. Definite all sorts,” the former Olympian told Channel 7.

“That’s just lactic acid pain pulsating through those legs.”

When asked what that feels like, Manou responded: “It’s horrendous. He’s got it that badly. He’s got it really bad. He’s going to take a while to recover from that.

“He’s going to need an ice bath for a while.”

His participation in the semi-finals on Saturday morning (AEST) has not been confirmed.

Former British middle-distance runner Tim Hutchings told the Commonwealth Games host broadcasting service Samukonga brought it on himself.

“Maybe he thought I may never get a chance to run sub-45 (seconds) again,” Hutchings said.

“I think most coaches would say, ‘it’s great to run a personal best, but actually this is just extravagant and you will pay for it’.

“That’s a 10m winning margin — and more by the time he hits the line.

“Really, really unnecessary. No one else goes under 46 seconds.

“He runs 44.89 seconds and dare I say, he’s the word naive.

“An incredible run, but I hope that’s not the last we see of him in Birmingham.”

Aussie Steve Solomon also moved through to the semi-finals as the sixth-quickest overall qualifier after finishing second in his heat with a time of 45.98 seconds.

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F1 Hungarian GP 2022 results: Daniel Ricciardo disaster after Lance Stroll collision

F1 Hungarian GP 2022 results: Daniel Ricciardo disaster after Lance Stroll collision

Daniel Ricciardo’s nightmare season has only gotten worse, with the Australian finishing 15th in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.

Despite starting in 10th position on the starting grid and spinning on Lap 40, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his eighth race of the season to extend his lead in the drivers’ standings ahead of the mid-season.

It was a remarkable day for Verstappen, but the same certainly couldn’t be said for his former teammate Ricciardo.

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The McLaren driver was on track for a potential points finish before a collision with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on Lap 48 ruined his race.

Ricciardo and Stroll were battling for position before the 33-year-old’s tires locked up and he understeered into Stroll as they went around the outside of Turn 2.

The Canadian spun around and Ricciardo was handed a five-second penalty for causing a collision.

Nothing went right for Ricciardo after the incident, slowly slipping down the order on the slower, hard tyres.

He was overtaken by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda before eventually finishing 15th, behind Haas’ Mick Schumacher.

Earlier in the Grand Prix, Ricciardo was celebrating a stunning double overtake that elevated him into the points.

The Australian, who started ninth on the grid, was down in 12th following an early pit stop, but managed to swoop past both Alpine drivers in a matter of seconds on Lap 24.

While Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were skirmishing on Turn 2, Ricciardo went wide and slipped down the inside on the next corner.

It was arguably his best moment of the season to date.

“Let’s f***ing go,” the Perth driver yelled on the team radio.

There were few scary moments throughout Sunday’s race — AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went for a spin on Lap 35, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas retired on the penultimate lap, forcing a late virtual safety car.

Rain also started falling on the track with a couple of minutes remaining, meaning Verstappen had to tip-toe his way towards the finish line.

But the reigning world champion kept his composure and got the job done, winning his eighth race of the season and 28th of his career.

“I was at first hoping that I could get close to a podium, but very tricky conditions out there but we had a really good strategy,” Verstappen said.

“We were really reactive and always pitting at the right time, I thought we had some good out laps, and at the end – even with the 360 ​​– we won the race.

“It was a crazy race and I’m of course very happy that we won it.”

The F1 season will resume at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, August 28.

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