IT’S early on a Tuesday afternoon when I sidle into the Port Adelaide football department on the upper floor of Allan Scott Power Headquarters in Alberton.
The meeting was originally booked in for 10:00am but, understandably, the AFL Coaches Association’s senior coach of the year is a busy man, and he’s even busier at this time of year.
It’s no surprise considering the professionalism expected of the senior coach of one of Australia’s 18 AFL clubs - the highest profile sports organisations in Australia.
Between flights to and from Dubai, the hunt for a new coaching director, the restructuring of the club’s football program, not to mention the obligatory media, corporate and industry commitments that come with the role, Hinkley has every reason to be busy.
If he wasn’t, there would be something wrong.
Amidst that demanding schedule is the hurly burly of the pre-season - one that started late due to the club’s semi finals appearance last September and has put the players and coaches through the intense heat of the Arabian and Adelaidean suns.
January is also the toughest month in the AFL football calendar and probably worse if you’re a member of an Adelaide-based playing group, considering the heat waves the city has sweltered through at the start of 2014.
Heat is, of course, nothing new to this club.
It forms the basis for the club’s fitness program - put your body under stress in summer and you’ll get a great result come August and, hopefully, September.
But it’s not just the fitness program that will help out Port Adelaide in 2014.
According to Hinkley, it’s the maintenance and continued development of the player culture and resolve at Alberton that is crucial for the club taking another big step this year.
It strikes immediately when you sit down and speak to him that this is a man completely at ease with his football operation, particularly given the recent integration of the club’s AFL and SANFL program and the acquisition of two senior coaching staff in director of coaching Shaun Hart and midfield manager Phil Walsh.
Not only is he comfortable with the team around him, but he is confident of the future of his players; they are a stable group without limits on their potential.
For Hinkley, it is the most important thing for this football club.
But he isn't content with finals appearances, or complacent after a resurgent 2013 performance. He wants to work with the good people around him to continue Port Adelaide's upward aspirations.
That, combined with his buy-in to the broader club culture and ethos, summarised in old mantras: We Exist To Win Premierships; and new ones: We Will Turn Up, We Will Never, Ever Give Up; shows Hinkley has settled nicely into the head chair at Alberton.
He is as much Port Adelaide as any of his predecessors.
And he champions a classic brand of Port Adelaide football that exists to serve its community at every level. His is a commitment to honest, hard and fair football that is guided by the club’s coaching panel, practised by its playing group and lived by all.
While the path in 2014 will be a familiar one, it also will be one dotted with change. It makes the first question I’ll ask the obvious one to start with …
Matthew Agius: Well Ken, one season on, what change have you seen at Port Adelaide, in this football department and within the playing group, and how do you see that influencing the future of the football club?
Ken Hinkley: We’ve made some changes already to our coaches with Shaun Rehn, Daniel Healy and Alan Richardson leaving the group. We’ve brought in Shaun Hart to fill Richo’s role, Phil Walsh and Aaron Greaves, so we’ve got some different people here who bring different ideas which should hopefully help us and make us a better football club.
And he champions a classic brand of Port Adelaide football that exists to serve its community at every level. His is a commitment to honest, hard and fair football that is guided by the club’s coaching panel, practised by its playing group and lived by all.
While the path in 2014 will be a familiar one, it also will be one dotted with change. It makes the first question I’ll ask the obvious one to start with …
Matthew Agius: Well Ken, one season on, what change have you seen at Port Adelaide, in this football department and within the playing group, and how do you see that influencing the future of the football club?
Ken Hinkley: We’ve made some changes already to our coaches with Shaun Rehn, Daniel Healy and Alan Richardson leaving the group. We’ve brought in Shaun Hart to fill Richo’s role, Phil Walsh and Aaron Greaves, so we’ve got some different people here who bring different ideas which should hopefully help us and make us a better football club.
Then you look at our playing personnel. Like every club we have to make list changes and bring in new people and we’ve done that. We’e got Matt White from Richmond and Jared Polec from Brisbane who we feel will come in and make a contribution to our senior group straight away, and give us an opportunity to create that outside run and ball-carry ability that I felt we needed more of at times last year. We’ve also drafted Jarman Impey, Mitch Harvey, Darcy Byrne-Jones and Karl Amon and brought Sam Russell, Sam Gray and Daniel Flynn in as rookies. While you draft these players for your future without expecting them to have an immediate impact - although Ollie Wines did that for us last year - we would like to hope one can come in at some stage this year and play well for us.
The group I think overall, in 12 months, is certainly in a much, much better place in terms of understanding how we want to play, where we want to play, and their own commitment to what they want to achieve. At the start of 2013 there was a lot of questions about whether or not we were going to be OK, and that was in the minds of the players, but I can just see what they’re capable of. It doesn’t mean they’re going to get everything they want, but they are more confident of going after what they want to achieve and hopefully that confidence will bring some results.
MA: Have there been any players from the second and third tiers of the playing list who have stood out this pre-season?
KH: There have been some who’ve had strong and healthy pre-seasons - boys who have played lots of footy and others who’ve played comparatively little. Overall I can say we’ve had good improvement across our lines, particularly with our defensive group, and the guys like Polec and White have come into our midfield group and helped bolster that. What has really pleased me is the way the new boys have fit into the group and worked very hard to get up to speed with what we do, as well as our older players who continue to set the standard.
The group I think overall, in 12 months, is certainly in a much, much better place in terms of understanding how we want to play, where we want to play, and their own commitment to what they want to achieve. At the start of 2013 there was a lot of questions about whether or not we were going to be OK, and that was in the minds of the players, but I can just see what they’re capable of. It doesn’t mean they’re going to get everything they want, but they are more confident of going after what they want to achieve and hopefully that confidence will bring some results.
MA: Have there been any players from the second and third tiers of the playing list who have stood out this pre-season?
KH: There have been some who’ve had strong and healthy pre-seasons - boys who have played lots of footy and others who’ve played comparatively little. Overall I can say we’ve had good improvement across our lines, particularly with our defensive group, and the guys like Polec and White have come into our midfield group and helped bolster that. What has really pleased me is the way the new boys have fit into the group and worked very hard to get up to speed with what we do, as well as our older players who continue to set the standard.
When you ask who has stood out, I’d love to say everyone in our team, in their own way, has improved and caught our eyes at various points throughout pre-season. It’s a really good place to be right now and goes a long way to helping us improve as a team again this year.
MA: More broadly, how have you viewed this pre-season when compared to your first at the helm?
KH: It’s really hard to be critical of my first pre-season because the players did everything I asked of them. They wanted to do everything we could have demanded. I’ve certainly seen no step back in that attitude. They understand they were able to gain some respect last year, but that didn’t give them anything in terms of what they want to achieve. They’re really driven hard again this pre-season and soaked it all up from Dubai back to training here before Christmas, and lifting the intensity again in January.
MA: More broadly, how have you viewed this pre-season when compared to your first at the helm?
KH: It’s really hard to be critical of my first pre-season because the players did everything I asked of them. They wanted to do everything we could have demanded. I’ve certainly seen no step back in that attitude. They understand they were able to gain some respect last year, but that didn’t give them anything in terms of what they want to achieve. They’re really driven hard again this pre-season and soaked it all up from Dubai back to training here before Christmas, and lifting the intensity again in January.
We’ve put them through some really tough pre-season sessions - some of them much harder than last year - and they’ve been able to step up to the plate. I’ve said to them a number of times they give themselves a chance because they are open to accepting the challenge and give everything they can to meet and beat the challenge. We’re in a pretty good spot.
MA: You touched on Dubai and intensity. Since coming here Darren Burgess’s mantra has been all about heat training and that’s what will give you the best result. Do you understand what that means or is it about putting faith in your fitness and conditioning team to deliver that blue ribbon fitness program and get the results you want?
KH: Certainly I have to trust Burgo and his team and why wouldn’t I when you consider the results they’ve already delivered us. We expect them to continue to get the players better and fitter and we expect ours to be the best running team in the AFL. That’s what we want from them and we’ve got that makeup in our group. In terms of my understanding of why we train in heat, it’s really just a common sense thing. Clearly being hotter and putting yourself into those extreme temperatures and training hard while being managed properly will get the results we’re after. We think we get lasting conditioning for the whole season.
MA: You touched on Dubai and intensity. Since coming here Darren Burgess’s mantra has been all about heat training and that’s what will give you the best result. Do you understand what that means or is it about putting faith in your fitness and conditioning team to deliver that blue ribbon fitness program and get the results you want?
KH: Certainly I have to trust Burgo and his team and why wouldn’t I when you consider the results they’ve already delivered us. We expect them to continue to get the players better and fitter and we expect ours to be the best running team in the AFL. That’s what we want from them and we’ve got that makeup in our group. In terms of my understanding of why we train in heat, it’s really just a common sense thing. Clearly being hotter and putting yourself into those extreme temperatures and training hard while being managed properly will get the results we’re after. We think we get lasting conditioning for the whole season.
I trust Burgo to give us the best bang for our buck and the heat training and conditioning program he runs in pre-season is what he thinks will deliver us that. We live in Adelaide and we know how hot our summer gets - we don’t go to Dubai and come back to a place which is cold - so we basically get a double hit in what we’ve been able to do in the conditions. I think it’s very good for us.
MA: Heat training in Dubai doesn’t just boost fitness, it gives the chance for the team to gel together, doesn't it?
KH: Exactly right. There’s no doubt when we went to London at the end of 2012 leading into the 2013 pre-season, when Richo and I were new and we had new people at the club, it gave us the opportunity to learn about each other. I thought it was that important to do something similar as a group and that it was vital to us growing as a team together. They get to know about their new teammates; Walshie, who while he’s back is new to most of our players; and Aaron who gets to make relationships with the players he’ll be developing.
MA: Heat training in Dubai doesn’t just boost fitness, it gives the chance for the team to gel together, doesn't it?
KH: Exactly right. There’s no doubt when we went to London at the end of 2012 leading into the 2013 pre-season, when Richo and I were new and we had new people at the club, it gave us the opportunity to learn about each other. I thought it was that important to do something similar as a group and that it was vital to us growing as a team together. They get to know about their new teammates; Walshie, who while he’s back is new to most of our players; and Aaron who gets to make relationships with the players he’ll be developing.
I think it’s really important to say that at Port Adelaide we’re all in this together and it won’t just be the coach and captain who does the job - it’s us, the team, doing it as a football club.
MA: You’ve touched on Walshie and I’ll get to him shortly, but on the theme of team unity and bonding, you’ve brought a coaching director to the club in Shaun Hart to replace Alan Richardson and he strikes as a very values and people-oriented individual. Can you tell us what he brings to Port Adelaide and what he’s started to do since beginning the job?
KH: What happens with someone like Shaun Hart is that no matter what role they fill, they give everything they’ve got and more. That’s what you want in any organisation - people who are prepared to give. Shaun works on the philosophy of giving more than he gets. It’s probably a good way to live your life and that’s just what he does. He comes to the club with a great deal of enthusiasm and we have a great relationship like the one Richo and I ended up having, but the difference is that Shaun and I have both worked together at the Gold Coast and know what each other is about, respect each other and have a good working relationship.
MA: You’ve touched on Walshie and I’ll get to him shortly, but on the theme of team unity and bonding, you’ve brought a coaching director to the club in Shaun Hart to replace Alan Richardson and he strikes as a very values and people-oriented individual. Can you tell us what he brings to Port Adelaide and what he’s started to do since beginning the job?
KH: What happens with someone like Shaun Hart is that no matter what role they fill, they give everything they’ve got and more. That’s what you want in any organisation - people who are prepared to give. Shaun works on the philosophy of giving more than he gets. It’s probably a good way to live your life and that’s just what he does. He comes to the club with a great deal of enthusiasm and we have a great relationship like the one Richo and I ended up having, but the difference is that Shaun and I have both worked together at the Gold Coast and know what each other is about, respect each other and have a good working relationship.
I know what he’ll bring to the club, what he’ll demand from the club and I think he’ll get the best out of the people he works with. If we can use his skills and abilities and drive to help build ours into one of the best coaching departments in the country then I think there will be a lot for our club to look forward to. I think he’ll be good for us.
MA: Speaking of high quality coaching departments, you’ve brought Phil Walsh back to the club. He’s been here before as a senior assistant in the 2004 premiership year, gone to West Coast and now returned. How have you seen his transition back into the Port Adelaide environment, which really is a new one for him given the changeover in staff, players and coaches and even style of the game since he was last here?
KH: I think Phil brings enthusiasm. Every session we’ve had he’s been loud, noisy, demanding and excited. He brings a real passion to see people improve. He’s had a good connection to Port Adelaide in the past, but I think watching the club from afar for the last 12 months has helped generate some excitement in him about where things are hopefully heading. He’ll head up our midfield and with him and Josh Carr running that group they’ll feed off his enthusiasm. The thing I think makes Phil a valuable acquisition for us is that he’s been to a club in West Coast that has every option and resource available to them and is coming back to Port Adelaide understanding he won’t have all those things.
MA: Speaking of high quality coaching departments, you’ve brought Phil Walsh back to the club. He’s been here before as a senior assistant in the 2004 premiership year, gone to West Coast and now returned. How have you seen his transition back into the Port Adelaide environment, which really is a new one for him given the changeover in staff, players and coaches and even style of the game since he was last here?
KH: I think Phil brings enthusiasm. Every session we’ve had he’s been loud, noisy, demanding and excited. He brings a real passion to see people improve. He’s had a good connection to Port Adelaide in the past, but I think watching the club from afar for the last 12 months has helped generate some excitement in him about where things are hopefully heading. He’ll head up our midfield and with him and Josh Carr running that group they’ll feed off his enthusiasm. The thing I think makes Phil a valuable acquisition for us is that he’s been to a club in West Coast that has every option and resource available to them and is coming back to Port Adelaide understanding he won’t have all those things.
I think he knows having limitless resources gives some benefit, but also believes there’s no substitute for good, old-fashioned hard work. We have an attitude that we need to get the most out of every resource and every person we have available and Phil does that without asking him to. His passion and enthusiasm, even though he’s been involved in football for a long time, is still there. That’s really valuable to us.
Read Part 2 of our Ken Hinkley interview, where he talks about his football plans, the draw, what he learned from the 2013 finals and the cultural value of the club's AFL/SANFL integration.
Join the club in 2014 and guarantee your seat at the historic first Showdown at the Adelaide Oval by becoming an 11-game reserved or Essential Power member at weareportadelaide.com.au or by calling 1300 GO PAFC (1300 467 232)
Read Part 2 of our Ken Hinkley interview, where he talks about his football plans, the draw, what he learned from the 2013 finals and the cultural value of the club's AFL/SANFL integration.
Join the club in 2014 and guarantee your seat at the historic first Showdown at the Adelaide Oval by becoming an 11-game reserved or Essential Power member at weareportadelaide.com.au or by calling 1300 GO PAFC (1300 467 232)
