Ken Hinkley (born 30 September 1966) is the senior coach of the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) and a former player with the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

. Hinkley currently holds the VFL/AFL record for the most games coached at any club without making a grand final, and the fifth-most games coached without winning a premiership. Hinkley's final year coaching Port Adelaide will be the end of the 2025 AFL season, with the replacement coach selected as the current assistant-coach Josh Carr.

Early life

Hinkley was born and grew up in Camperdown,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He is the 7th of 10 children. As a teenager Hinkley played for the

Camperdown Football Club The Camperdown Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Magpies'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Camperdown, Victoria, Camperdown, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Ha ...

. Hinkley dropped out of high school at 16 to become a semi-professional footballer with the

in the VFL despite the club encouraging him to complete his schooling.

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 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States (National ...

Geelong (1989–1995)

Hinkley moved to Geelong for the

1989 VFL season The 1989 VFL season was the 93rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria and, by reason of it featuring clubs from New South Wales, Queens ...

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 The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

teams, Hinkley also won a

Carji Greeves Medal The Carji Greeves Medal is a name given in recent decades to an Australian rules football award given to the player(s) adjudged best and fairest for the Geelong Football Club for the season. The voting system has changed a number of times. Fo ...

as Geelong's best and fairest player in the

1992 AFL season The 1992 AFL season was the 96th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured fift ...

. In the same year he finished third at the Brownlow Medal count, behind winner Scott Wynd and Hawthorn's

Jason Dunstall Jason Hadfield Dunstall (born 14 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Dunstall is arguably the greatest Australian rules footballer to come from ...

. He appeared in 12 finals with Geelong, including the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Grand Final losses.

Coaching career

Mortlake senior coach (1996–1998)

Retiring after the

1995 AFL Grand Final The 1995 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 1995. It was the 99th annual grand final of ...

, Hinkley joined

Hampden Football League The Hampden Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league based in South-Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns along or near the Princes Highway from Camperdown to Portland. The league is a major country ...

club Mortlake as coach, 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.

St Kilda assistant coach (2001)

St Kilda acquired his services as an assistant coach in 2001 under senior coaches

Malcolm Blight Malcolm Jack Blight AM (born 16 February 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian Na ...

and Grant Thomas, but he left the club after one season.

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 The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest-standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with sever ...

and oversaw a premiership in 2003.

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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

AFL premierships. Hinkley left Geelong at the end of the 2009 season.

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 The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The ...

under senior coach

Guy McKenna Guy Lindsay McKenna (born 11 May 1969) is a retired Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). McKenna played 267 games for the West Coast Eagles, includ ...

. Hinkley served as assistant coach for the Suns in their inaugural season in the 2011 season and the 2012 season. during this period, Hinkley also interviewed for the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, Geelong and St Kilda senior coach positions but was unsuccessful.

Port Adelaide senior coach (2013–2025)

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 Garry Andrew Hocking (born 8 October 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Tough and skilled in equal measure, Hocking was an integral part of Geelong's ...

, who replaced Matthew Primus, after Primus was sacked during the 2012 season. In his debut season, Hinkley led Port to 13 wins, which included an elimination final win at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

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 and in their first two finals before losing to eventual premiers . 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 The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

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. 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. 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, before being knocked out in the finals series following consecutive losses to Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney. Hinkley's position came under further scrutiny in 2024 following a heavy mid-season loss to Brisbane, though the club rebounded to again qualify in the top four, which culminated in a fourth preliminary final defeat, this time to Sydney. In February 2025, ahead of the final year of his contract, club chairman David Koch announced that Hinkley's tenure as coach would conclude at the end of the 2025 season, and that his position would be filled by assistant coach Josh Carr in 2026. Hinkley is the longest-serving coach of any AFL club to not qualify for a

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

. Despite this, he will end as the longest-serving senior AFL coach in the history of the club with a win-loss percentage higher than any of his predecessors.

Personal life

Hinkley is married to high school sweetheart Donna and the couple have three children, Lisa, Bec and Jordan. Jordan Hinkley is employed by the Port Adelaide Football Club as a Football Analyst. Prior to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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. 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.

Statistics

Playing statistics

, - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 48 , , 10 , , 20 , , 12 , , 79 , , 33 , , 112 , , 39 , , 8 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 7.9 , , 3.3 , , 11.2 , , 3.9 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 1 , , 1 , , 3 , , 15 , , 3 , , 18 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , , 15.0 , , 3.0 , , 18.0 , , 4.0 , , 0.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 6 , , 2 , , 8 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 2.0 , , 8.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 15 , , 27 , , 25 , , 149 , , 64 , , 213 , , 64 , , 10 , , 1.8 , , 1.7 , , 9.9 , , 4.3 , , 14.2 , , 4.3 , , 0.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 24 , , 3 , , 10 , , 391 , , 110 , , 501 , , 114 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 16.3 , , 4.6 , , 20.9 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 26 , , 8 , , 7 , , 443 , , 100 , , 543 , , 130 , , 32 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 17.0 , , 3.8 , , 20.9 , , 5.0 , , 1.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 16 , , 5 , , 7 , , 211 , , 89 , , 300 , , 56 , , 12 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 13.2 , , 5.6 , , 18.8 , , 3.5 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 25 , , 2 , , 4 , , 306 , , 130 , , 436 , , 95 , , 26 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.2 , , 5.2 , , 17.4 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 14 , , 13 , , 14 , , 137 , , 59 , , 196 , , 37 , , 8 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 9.8 , , 4.2 , , 14.0 , , 2.6 , , 0.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 132 ! 79 ! 82 ! 1737 ! 590 ! 2327 ! 539 ! 123 ! 0.6 ! 0.6 ! 13.2 ! 4.5 ! 17.6 ! 4.1 ! 0.9

Coaching statistics

:''Statistics are correct to Preliminary Final, 2024'' *''Hinkley did not coach the round 6, 2013 match due to an illness.'' *''Hinkley did not coach the round 18, 2022 match due to covid health and safety protocols.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinkley, Ken 1966 births Living people Geelong Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club players Carji Greeves Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Port Adelaide Football Club coaches Mortlake Football Club players Mortlake Football Club coaches Camperdown Football Club players Camperdown Football Club coaches Victorian State of Origin players