Surely, now would have been the ideal occasion for the two parties to shake hands and accept that one decade had seen Hinkley lift Port Adelaide out of the mire back to respectability despite having failed to help deliver the ultimate.
Particularly when Koch chose this week to again publicly threaten Hinkley’s job and his off-field football team, in a clumsy attempt to appease his supporter base which appears to have increasingly turned on Hinkley from the start of the season.
No one is suggesting Koch has no right to criticize his team’s performance. Port might have lost seven games for less than two goals this season, but the side has under-delivered in what could prove the team’s worst finish under Hinkley. But to suggest Hinkley and his team he must turn things around in a fortnight or else came over as a hollow threat.
Just as the club backflipped after one season on Hinkley’s dual captaincy strategy due to supporter backlash, the coach has been undermined again to satisfy one of the most demanding fan bases in football. This was not a show of strength by Koch and, in fact, by the end of the week his resolve looked positively flimsy.
Hinkley took a pay cut when his contract was extended for two years at the start of 2021 and as a result refused to entertain the prospect of any performance clauses. The club cannot afford to pay him out, and he has a watertight deal until the end of next season.
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Koch backtracked on Thursday but still pointed out that Hinkley had failed to coach Port to a grand finale. Back in early 2016 when Richmond backed Damien Hardwick with a contract extension, president Peggy O’Neal’s blunt assessment was that the club looked around and saw no one better than the incumbent, and when the Tigers’ season capitulated her firm decision to back Hardwick has become a template for situations like Port’s current predicament.
What is surprising is that no club has put out the feelers for Hinkley in recent days despite his winning record. North Melbourne have thrown their entire weight behind Alastair Clarkson and will look no further unless that bid fails, while GWS have stuck to a process in which Clarkson remains their preferred target. The Giants have said they will not approach a contracted coach, but surely Koch’s comments on Monday opened the door.
So, barring a late play, Hinkley stays at Port with the most likely movement at Alberton to see assistant coach Brett Montgomery replaced. Football boss Davies has refused to entertain offers, including one from North, and has maintained his faith in Hinkley and their program.
But this is not the ideal starting point upon which to build season 2023. An uneasy president, a coach under pressure to deliver from round one or else suffer the ignominy of the weekly sacking debate, and a playing group and football department that knows it.
In another country, in a different football competition, Ken Hinkley would be seen as a winning coach. In Australia and in the town of Adelaide he is a coach under pressure. Nothing will change in that department unless he can deliver a top-four finish next season.
No disrespect to Dew or the superb Port team which had the misfortune to come up against one-last-shot champion Richmond in the preliminary final of 2020, but perhaps Hinkley should have walked away at the end of 2017 and coached the Suns.
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