Watch Ken Hinkley speak to the media on PTV above. Can't see the video? Watch on YouTube.
NEW senior coach Ken Hinkley says Port Adelaide’s trip to Europe is all about kick-starting the Power’s pre season campaign ahead of the start of on-track training in early November.
Hinkley will be joined by new director of coaching Alan Richardson, high performance manager Darren Burgess as well as the Power’s assistant coaching panel and a selected squad of players for a 12-day trip to Europe.
[ Related: European trip itinerary ]
There the group will first travel to Milan, Italy where it will visit the Australian Institute of Sport’s Europe training base and the headquarters international football giant AC Milan.
It will then head to the UK to play the Western Bulldogs in the Elastoplast AFL European Challenge at Kia Oval in London.
For Hinkley the trip serves as an opportunity to build relationships with his playing group and sow the first seeds of his football program.
“We need to make sure every minute is valuable. It won’t be a holiday, it’s the start of our pre-season,” said Hinkley.
“As much as anything it will be about us forming some relationships and making sure we understand a little bit about where we want to go.
“As a coaching group we get a great chance to spend some time together and really go through the way we want to play our footy.”
The football department will use tours of high-level European sporting facilities to glean new ideas and an understanding of international sports operations to apply back at Alberton.
[ Related: Power's trade period success ]
“It’s great to see some different stuff where the environment’s different and you get to go away and appreciate some of the things you see and some of the things back home as well,” said Hinkley.
“It’s more an understanding of what other people in the world do and what other people in other sports can do too.”
The 16-a-side clash against the Bulldogs at Kia Oval will be Hinkley’s first match at the helm of the the Power side, albeit on a smaller scale.
Hinkley’s focus will be on both producing a good result in front of the British crowd and ensuring the group emerges from the game unscathed.
“We just want to get through the game and play the game as well as we possibly can.”
“For the first time I’ll really be watching Port Adelaide as my club - I haven’t really had that opportunity in the past.”
“It’s great to see some different stuff where the environment’s different and you get to go away and appreciate some of the things you see and some of the things back home as well,” said Hinkley.
“It’s more an understanding of what other people in the world do and what other people in other sports can do too.”
The 16-a-side clash against the Bulldogs at Kia Oval will be Hinkley’s first match at the helm of the the Power side, albeit on a smaller scale.
Hinkley’s focus will be on both producing a good result in front of the British crowd and ensuring the group emerges from the game unscathed.
“We just want to get through the game and play the game as well as we possibly can.”
“For the first time I’ll really be watching Port Adelaide as my club - I haven’t really had that opportunity in the past.”
