Ken Hinkley

Not to be confused with Ken Hinckley.

Ken Hinkley
Hinkley in April 2018
Personal information
Full name	Ken Hinkley
Nickname(s)	Kenny
Date of birth	(1966-09-30) 30 September 1966 (age 57)
Place of birth	Camperdown, Victoria
Original team(s)	Camperdown
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1987–1988	Fitzroy	011 (21)
1989–1995	Geelong	121 (58)
Total		132 (79)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2013- Present	Port Adelaide	271 (164–107–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1995. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 24, 2024.
Career highlights
2x AFLCA Coach of the Year (2013, 2020) Carji Greeves Medal (1992) HNFL Leading goalkicker (1983) 2x All-Australian (1991, 1992) Bell Park premiership coach (2003) Most games coached without making Grand Final (2024) VFL/AFL Record
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Ken Hinkley (born 30 September 1966) is the senior coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and a former player with the Geelong Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club.

Hinkley currently holds the VFL/AFL record for the most games coached at any club without making a grand final. ^[1]

Early life

Hinkley was born and grew up in Camperdown, Victoria. He is the 7th of 10 children. ^[2] As a teenager Hinkley played for the Camperdown Football Club. ^[2]

Hinkley dropped out of high school at 16 to become a semi-professional footballer with the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFL despite the club encouraging him to complete his schooling. ^[2]

Playing career

Fitzroy (1987–1988)

In 1987 Hinkley made his VFL debut as a forward for Fitzroy in a match against North Melbourne at Waverley Park. Hinkley did not enjoy his time in Melbourne and was approached by Geelong at the end of the 1988 VFL season. ^[3]

Geelong (1989–1995)

Hinkley moved to Geelong for the 1989 VFL season and it was at his second club where he played his best football as a rebounding defender. Hinkley walked out of Fitzroy in 1988 and asked for a clearance to Geelong. He stood out of football for the rest of 1988 season before being traded to Geelong for the 1989 season. A half back flanker in the 1991 and 1992 All-Australian teams, Hinkley also won a Carji Greeves Medal as Geelong's best and fairest player in the 1992 AFL season. In the same year he finished third at the Brownlow Medal count, behind winner Scott Wynd and Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall. He appeared in 12 finals with Geelong, including the 1992, 1994 and 1995 Grand Final losses.

Coaching career

Mortlake senior coach (1996–1998)

Retiring after the 1995 AFL Grand Final, Hinkley joined Hampden Football League club Mortlake as coach, ^[4] where he remained for three seasons.

Camperdown senior coach (1999–2000)

Hinkley returned to Camperdown and coached the club to back-to-back premierships in 1999 and 2000, the former as captain-coach. ^[5]

St Kilda assistant coach (2001)

St Kilda acquired his services as an assistant coach in 2001 under senior coaches Malcolm Blight and Grant Thomas, but he left the club after one season. ^[6]

Bell Park senior coach (2002–2003)

The year after leaving St Kilda he took up the role of senior coach of Bell Park in the Geelong Football League and oversaw a premiership in 2003. ^[7]

Geelong assistant coach (2004–2009)

He resumed his AFL coaching career in 2004, as an assistant coach under senior coach Mark Thompson at Geelong, and was part of the coaching group in their 2007 and 2009 AFL premierships. Hinkley left Geelong at the end of the 2009 season. ^{[8] [9]}

Gold Coast assistant coach (2011–2012)

At the end of the 2009 season, Hinkley was announced as an assistant coach at the new Gold Coast Football Club under senior coach Guy McKenna. ^{[10] [11]} Hinkley served as assistant coach for the Suns in their inaugural season in the 2011 season and the 2012 season. ^[12] during this period, Hinkley also interviewed for the Richmond, Geelong and St Kilda senior coach positions but was unsuccessful.

Port Adelaide senior coach (2013–present)

Hinkley talking to his Port Adelaide players in 2014

On 8 October 2012, Hinkley was announced as the senior coach of Port Adelaide making him the first coach that has not been associated with the club before since Fos Williams. Hinkley replaced Port Adelaide caretaker senior coach Garry Hocking, who replaced Matthew Primus, after Primus was sacked during the 2012 season. ^[13] In his debut season, Hinkley led Port to 13 wins, which included an elimination final win at the MCG against Collingwood before being eliminated by Geelong in a close game a week later. This came to a surprise to many as Port Adelaide had only won eight games in the previous two seasons combined. For his impressive season, Hinkley was voted as the Coach of the Year by the AFL Coaches Association.

A year later, despite predictions by many that Port Adelaide would miss the finals, Hinkley led the club to a preliminary final finish; having finished the minor rounds in fifth place on the ladder, the Power defeated Richmond and Fremantle in their first two finals before losing to eventual premiers Hawthorn. ^[14]

The Power disappointingly missed finals in 2015 and 2016 before returning in 2017, only to be eliminated in the first week in an intense Elimination Final against the West Coast Eagles which went all the way down to a kick after the siren in extra-time. Hinkley's contract with Port Adelaide was extended in late 2017. ^[15]

After guiding Port Adelaide to minor premiership and a Preliminary Final appearance during the 2020 AFL season, Hinkley signed a contract extension until the end of 2023. ^[16] 2021 saw another Preliminary Final appearance for the Power, while in 2022 the team slipped out of the top eight, placing pressure on Hinkley for his final contracted season in 2023. Despite the pressure, club officials extended Hinkley's contract to the end of the 2025 season, shortly after the team locked in a top four spot and a return to finals, ^[17] before being knocked out in the finals series by losing the qualifying final to Brisbane by 48 points, followed by a 23 point home game loss to Greater Western Sydney. ^[18] In response to supporter dissatisfaction with Hinkley's 2023 contract extension chairman David Koch declared that despite never having taken the club to a Grand Final Hinkley was the club's most successful coach of the AFL era ^[19] ahead of Mark Williams (2 Grand Finals, 1 Premiership).

Personal life

Hinkley is married to high school sweetheart Donna and the couple have three children, Lisa, Bec and Jordan. ^[2] Jordan Hinkley is employed by the Port Adelaide Football Club as a Football Analyst. ^[20] Prior to COVID-19 one of Hinkley's daughters and her husband were also employed by the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Hinkley is a cousin of Geelong player Gary Rohan. ^[21]

Hinkley is an avid supporter of greyhound racing and is actively involved in the sport as a part-owner. He is a member of a syndicate that includes current and former players from the Port Adelaide Football Club, as well as Chris Davies, the General Manager of Football Operations for the club. ^[22]

Statistics

Playing statistics

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1987	Fitzroy	48	10	20	12	79	33	112	39	8	2.0	1.2	7.9	3.3	11.2	3.9	0.8
1988	Fitzroy	22	1	1	3	15	3	18	4	0	1.0	3.0	15.0	3.0	18.0	4.0	0.0
1989	Geelong	39	1	0	0	6	2	8	0	1	0.0	0.0	6.0	2.0	8.0	0.0	1.0
1990	Geelong	39	15	27	25	149	64	213	64	10	1.8	1.7	9.9	4.3	14.2	4.3	0.7
1991	Geelong	29	24	3	10	391	110	501	114	26	0.1	0.4	16.3	4.6	20.9	4.8	1.1
1992	Geelong	29	26	8	7	443	100	543	130	32	0.3	0.3	17.0	3.8	20.9	5.0	1.2
1993	Geelong	29	16	5	7	211	89	300	56	12	0.3	0.4	13.2	5.6	18.8	3.5	0.8
1994	Geelong	29	25	2	4	306	130	436	95	26	0.1	0.2	12.2	5.2	17.4	3.8	1.0
1995	Geelong	29	14	13	14	137	59	196	37	8	0.9	1.0	9.8	4.2	14.0	2.6	0.6
Career			132	79	82	1737	590	2327	539	123	0.6	0.6	13.2	4.5	17.6	4.1	0.9

^[23]

Coaching statistics

Statistics are correct to Round 23, 2023 ^[24]

Legend
W	Wins	L	Losses	D	Draws	W%	Winning percentage	LP	Ladder position	LT	League teams

Season	Team	Games	W	L	D	W %	LP	LT
2013*	Port Adelaide	23	13	10	0	56.5%	5	18
2014	Port Adelaide	25	16	9	0	64.0%	3	18
2015	Port Adelaide	22	12	10	0	54.6%	9	18
2016	Port Adelaide	22	10	12	0	45.5%	10	18
2017	Port Adelaide	23	14	9	0	60.9%	7	18
2018	Port Adelaide	22	12	10	0	54.5%	10	18
2019	Port Adelaide	22	11	11	0	50.0%	10	18
2020	Port Adelaide	17	14	3	0	82.4%	1	18
2021	Port Adelaide	22	17	5	0	77.3%	2	18
2022	Port Adelaide	21	11	10	0	47.6%	11	18
2023	Port Adelaide	23	17	6	0	73.9%	3	18
Career totals		236	143	93	0	60.6%

*Hinkley did not coach the round 6, 2013 match due to an illness. ^[25]

*Hinkley did not coach the round 18, 2022 match due to covid health and safety protocols. ^[26]

References

1. "AFL Tables - Coaches".
2. Rucci, Michaelangelo (2 August 2013). "The private achiever – profile of Port Adelaide Football Club coach Ken Hinkley". The Advertiser. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
3. Founten, Loukas (10 July 2020). "Blight pays tribute to Ken Hinkley as he achieves AFL life membership". portadelaidefc.com.au. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
4. Wilson, Caroline (31 May 2017). "Life teaches Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley a brutal lesson". The Age. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
5. "AFL life membership for 'Kenny from Camperdown'". 8 July 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
6. "Ken Hinkley - Senior Coach" . Retrieved 8 February 2022.
7. "Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has always been a man for the moment". Geelong Advertiser. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
8. "Ken Hinkley - Senior Coach" . Retrieved 8 February 2022.
9. "Geelong Cats lose Ken Hinkley to Gold Coast". 29 September 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
10. "GEELONG'S HINKLEY JOINS GOLD COAST FOOTBALL CLUB". 29 September 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
11. "Geelong Cats lose Ken Hinkley to Gold Coast". 29 September 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
12. "Ken Hinkley - Senior Coach" . Retrieved 8 February 2022.
13. "Port's tough sell of new coach Ken Hinkley". 7 October 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
14. Mastermind season review: Port Adelaide, The Roar 3 October 2014
15. Ken Hinkley remains in charge of Port Adelaide for the next four years, Port Adelaide Football Club 19 September 2017
16. "Ken Hinkley signs contract extension with Port". InDaily. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
17. Jake Niall (15 August 2023). "Power lock in deal to keep Ken Hinkley as coach". The Age.
18. "AFL Tables - Port Adelaide v Greater Western Sydney - Sat, 16-Sep-2023".
19. "How Kochie dealt with the haters across the process of re signing hinkley".
20. "Jordan Hinkley".
21. "Brownlow fancy Robbie Gray 'the best player in the competition', says coach". afl.com.au. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
22. "The Power to Win!". www.grv.org.au. 6 July 2022.
23. Ken Hinkley's player profile at AFL Tables
24. "Ken Hinkley's coaching profile". AFL Tables.
25. Warren, Stu (4 May 2013). "Kangaroos hand Port Adelaide their first loss of the season". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
26. "Hinkley: I've got great assistants who can take over and do the job". 16 July 2022.

External links

• Ken Hinkley's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Ken Hinkley at AustralianFootball.com