Ken Hinkley, the Port Adelaide coach, sees no necessity to discuss emotional control with his team ahead of this Sunday's crucial match against Hawthorn following the heated conclusion of their 2024 semi-final game.
When tensions "reached a boiling point," Hinkley was hit with a $20,000 fine for his exchange of words with Hawthorn star Jack Ginnivan following Port's narrow three-point victory, which came in reaction to an earlier social media posting.
The Hawks' captain, James Sicily, had to be restrained by his teammates during intense moments, and Hinkley admitted that there was now a "vigorous competition" between the groups.
The AFL complied by scheduling the match at Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening as an appropriate finale to Gather Round.
However, with his squad sitting at 1-3 after four matches, and the Hawks soaring at 4-0, Hinkley stated that both he and his players couldn’t let their obsession revolve solely around the rematch.
Hinkley stated at his routine media briefing on Wednesday, 'I expressed my thoughts towards the conclusion of last year's match,' as he recalled.
Feelings were running high; I felt let down by my own behavior. I have apologized openly, now I believe it's best to look forward.
I really need to concentrate on how we perform this week.
We need to clarify our stance, and our stance entails doing whatever it takes to secure victory in this football match. That’s how we will allocate our efforts.
Hinkley attempted to steer clear from commenting on the apparent hypocrisy of the AFL fined him $20,000 for his actions yet subsequently arranging high-profile matches between the teams.
“I don’t believe I need to visit that place,” he stated.
Perhaps that's a query for (AFL CEO) Andrew (Dillon), rather than for me.
Hinkley said he had not spoken to anyone at Hawthorn since the incident and was sure they “didn’t really want to speak to me”.
But he expected the visitors, who are unbeaten this season but have lost star Will Day to a foot injury, would be driven to avenge last year’s finals loss and said the rivalry was “good for the game”.
“When you ultimately lose in the (finals) by a small margin, clearly there’s a sting,” he said.
“And the reality is, for us, we expect that to be coming our way. But every team who’s played them this year has felt their pressure, and we’re not going to be separated from that. We know it’s coming our way, and we look forward to the challenge.”