AFL
20 hours ago
The inside word from Hinkley after Tassie announcement
By SEN
After this morning's announcement in Tasmania, the Devils' inaugural head coach Ken Hinkley joined SEN Sportsday!
Speaking live on his weekly radio commitment with SEN, Hinkley revealed all things Tassie, how the process played out and where he plans on taking the club into the future!
"Would they love 15,000 people at their VFL games?
"That's where 15,000 people turn up in the VFL. In Tassie.
"I'm not going tit for tat though. I think there's a couple (of rivalries) brewing... I don't think the Hawks are super happy with the Devils!"
Ken's conversation with Toby Greene (and Tom Morris)
"I worked with Toby Greene last Friday night pre-game up in Sydney.
"I said to Toby, 'how did you guys go?' (GWS).
"T-Bone (Tom) Morris, he was there... like a dog on a bone, that fella. He was ringing me at 6:15am on Sunday morning, and he's on holidays for a weekend in Sydney with his wife!
"Come on T-Bone... I was on a plane!
"Anyway... Toby's experience was, they won two games in their first year, one game in their second year and then in the third year, they became really competitive.
"They played finals in year five, so year five - we would all like to think and hope that we're really competitive.
"I outlined a bit of a timeframe through the process, and that was a little bit about reward and understand the small wins early.
"By the third year, you're embracing an identity of who we are and what we play like and the way we want people to act and behave.
"By year five, anything is possible. That's what I put on the sheet - anything is possible by then.
"Hopefully it's earlier and we're playing finals by year two or three. That all goes into the mix when you consider the list that we've got to put together.
"Until we get a hold of the complete list, our expectations are won around, let's just make sure that everything's in the right place a the right time for when we put the list together, and then we'll worry about expectations around performance.
"It is a performance industry, we understand that, so eventually winning has got to become a part of our daily living."
Have you contacted any players yet?
"A bit like the players, there is a wishlist of people that you would love to be able to bring in.
"Experience is the number one thing - we would like to bring in as much as we can. That's just another learning from my days at the Gold Coast.
"Then, to have the program strong in the correct areas, I think that's really important early days. You get access to this great, youthful talent, but you need to make sure that your development is really strong, thick and thorough.
"Those will be the areas - good experienced people. I always say this; I want the best people, not the best tactical people.
"Most footy programs, if you bring in good people who have been in footy a long time, the tactic stuff that everyone raves on about... it's a little bit overblown.
"It's more around how you coach Monday to Friday, how you get them to commit to a certain style of football and play. That's why it's important to get the right people."
"We'd survive on them! We'd get through! We might need one or two others...
"We have a wonderful wishlist, but that's exactly what it is right now, it's just a wishlist."
Ken's first order of business
"A little bit of catch up for me. Catch up to where we're at with list management, drafting, under 18's and 17-year-olds.
"I've got a fair handle on that - I've been keeping a close eye on what most of that looks like from a distance, but not knowing exactly what the target is.
"Then it will be what type of players we're needing to target. Having an influence over, 'these are the types of players that we think you need to have to play and be a good successful AFL team'.
"But also, making sure we're mindful of the journey. What age some of these players need to be - there'd be top-end age where they come with great experience, and there's bottom-end age.
"GWS gave us some great examples with Phil Davis and Callan Ward, and then they went and got Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan - they did it really well with a good mix.
"We have some great concessions, but we have to maximise them and get it right."
Why Hinkley had "no idea" he would get the Tasmania job
"I knew I was going down to present again to the club on a number of different points, as I have done a number of times," Hinkley told Sportsday.
"I've been in touch with Brendon Gale nearly 18 months. I think our first catch up was in Adelaide at Gather Round last year when I was obviously still coaching Port.
"This was just an initial conversation, because I'd been to a start-up club. Brendon was just searching for some ideas or some challenges that might come through my experience.
"I continued on from there for a good period of time. Gets to Sunday morning... 'Hey, can you come down and present to the committee again?'
"That sounds okay to me... a little strange that you're getting me to come down to do it. I'm a touch of a betting man, and I'm going... the odds might be in my favour, but I had no idea that it was actually going to happen.
"I certainly didn't know that I was going to be talking to 1000 people in the next 36 hours and enjoying the start of what's going to be a fantastic journey for me, my family, for the Tasmania Devils, for the whole of Tasmania and all the expats of Tasmania.
"It's going to be some sort of ride and we can't wait to get started even though we have to wait in line a little bit longer."
Listen to Ken Hinkley's full chat on SEN Sportsday with Sam Edmund and Gerard Healy below!
RE-CAP THIS MORNING'S PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW:
Hinkley's message to Zak Butters
“If you’re listening, Zak, maybe put your decision off for a year.”
Followed by a cheeky chuckle, that was inaugural Tasmania Devils coach Ken Hinkley’s message to soon-to-be free agent Zak Butters when asked about which players he might be pursuing to travel across Bass Strait.
It’s no secret Hinkley served as a mentor to butters during their time together at Port Adelaide so a reunion is not totally off the cards.
But when it comes to the type of talent he will be looking at, Hinkley will say “no to no-one” as he looks to get the start-up club ready for it’s 2028 entry into the AFL.
Speaking at his unveiling and first official engagement as the club’s first head coach, Hinkley was relaxed and engaging as he answered the media’s questions.
“There are a lot of players that will want to be a part of this,” he said when asked about recruitment.
“We will aim for the top. We will go after everything possible and give it a great shot. There will be rejections but there will be yeses – we need the right people not just people.
"12 months from now we will be going into pre-season. We will be ready.
"To have a list full of Tasmanians, the numbers don’t add up. People will want to live here and be here and grow their families here.
"Players make life decisions. Typically, Tasmanians have had to move when they have been good enough to play AFL football, now they have the options.
"I've had an eye on Tasmania for a while now, I knew an opportunity as coming.
"We get the experience of what the Suns and GWS have gone through.
"We won't say no to anyone, we're not closing the door on anyone.”
Asked specifically about Butters he added: “If you’re listening, Zak, maybe put your decision off for a year.”
The former Port Adelaide coach flew down to Tasmania on Sunday having been spotted with the club's Chief Marketing Officer, Kathryn McCann.
Hinkley beat out fellow contenders in John Longmire and Nathan Buckley for the gig which will start immediately and he is ready to work.
"It’s not just a club it’s a football state. I can’t wait to bring it to life,” he continued.
"I first spoke to Brendan (Gale) 18 months ago, I told him I’m a footy coach, my passion and my world is that I’m a coach.
"As much as we’re a start-up club, we are a football state.
"It’s about the beginning, inaugural coach. My name is going to be there forever and that’s something I’m so proud of.
"I’m now a Tasmanian. We will come quick and hard and it's going to be fun."
Hinkley has signed a five-year deal with the club but insists he is there for the long haul and has “no limits” to his ambitions with the state.
“Grow the game, grow the community. We want to bring all Tasmanians in. We have got to embrace the whole state. It’s not a one-man job.
“If we’re winning, I’m going the journey. I have no limits on me. At what stage of life do you decide you’ve done enough and had enough? I’m miles away.
“We have plenty of time to go. You’re only as old as you feel. I don’t feel that old, Ive been in football forever. It’s easy for me.”
WHAT NEXT?
"12 months from now we will be going into pre-season. We will be ready.
"To have a list full of Tasmanians, the numbers don’t add up. People will want to live here and be here and grow their families here.
"Players make life decisions. Typically, Tasmanians have had to move when they have been good enough to play AFL football, now they have the options.
"I've had an eye on Tasmania for a while now, I knew an opportunity as coming.
"We get the experience of what the Suns and GWS have gone through.
"We won't say no to anyone, we're not closing the door on anyone.
"Footy manager is critical role we need to go after - I haven't got one yet, I only got the job yesterday."
NO LIMITS ON ME - HINKLEY
“There are a lot of players that will want to be a part of this. We will aim for the top. We will go after everything possible and give it a great shot. There will be rejections but there will be yeses – we need the right people not just people.
“Grow the game, grow the community. We want to bring all Tasmanians in. We have got to embrace the whole state. It’s not a one-man job.
“If we’re winning, I’m going the journey. I have no limits on me. At what stage of life do you decide you’ve done enough and had enough? I’m miles away.
“We have plenty of time to go. You’re only as old as you feel. I don’t feel that old, Ive been in football forever. It’s easy for me.
"At the end of my time at Port, I learned you had to be a bit more balanced with what you do. You learn, there’s not a person in any industry that doesn’t learn day by day and coaches are not different.
"I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we were going to win."
"EXCITING FOOTY":
Ken continues:
"My journey started with community football. I learned a lot down in Geelong and I’m so grateful because it’s similar.
"Imagine the passion at port Adelaide and I feel there’s stronger passion here.
"The character, care and connections, that’s my key points. We have an identity about how we want to play, we have grit down here. We will be tough to play against.
"We will play exciting footy. Tasmanians in particular will want to come and watch us. We have been in the VFL so we have grown in that area but we have a lot to do.
"We need the right people, and we need them here for the right reasons. We have to be elite in a lot of areas.
"I never wanted to stop coaching but there's a right time to change things.
"'Im forever grateful to Port Adelaide."
"I'M A TASMANIAN"
Hinlkey speaks:
"It’s not just a club it’s a football state. I can’t wait to bring it to life.
"I first spoke to Brendan 18 months ago, I told him I’m a footy coach, my passion and my world is that I’m a coach.
"As much as we’re a start up club, we are a football state.
"It’s about the beginning, inaugural coach. My name is going to be there forever and that’s something I’m so proud of.
"I’m now a Tasmanian. We will come quick and hard and it's going to be fun."
WHAT GOT HIM THE JOB?
Tasmania’s Chair Grant O’Brien:
"We were clear on the qualities we wanted going into this. Specifically, we like the focus he had on player development. He is a great connecter. He will help bring the state together. This is a start up after all. You need to be resilient.
"His experience makes him a terrific choice for us. He will be a great ambassador for u\our club and our state.
"What sticks in my mind from Ken’s presentation is he had the 3 Cs on his presentation; character, care and connection. He has them in spades and he will need it."
DON'T MISS HINKLEY ON SPORTSDAY TONIGHT 5PM AEST
Revealed: How Hinkley won the Tassie job
By Tom Morris
The Tasmania Devils liked Ken Hinkley from April last year.
They knew he was leaving Port Adelaide, and believed he would be a worthy part of the process.
Since Gather Round in 2025, the Devils and Hinkley remained in semi-regular contact.
Communications remained open, dialogue was ever-present.
The coach was keen to explore the role, and the club was eager to pair him against candidates John Longmire and Nathan Buckley.
But discussions didn't ramp up until earlier this year and then finally across the weekend.
Hinkley was working for SEN on Friday night in Sydney, flew back to Adelaide Saturday morning and covered the Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs game on Saturday afternoon.
Longmire was away for much of the weekend, while Buckley had been focussed on his role at Geelong.
Then Hinkley was summoned, first to Melbourne and then to Hobart.
He jumped on a Virgin flight with Devils marketing boss Kathryn McCann, landing in Hobart ahead of schedule at 9.40am.
He was whisked away and presented to the four-person panel, with Alastair Lynch joining via phone hook-up from People's First Stadium before his work for Fox Footy commenced.
The presentation to the panel was Hinkley's first in-depth one, but he had been having consistent chats across the last two months with Devils officials to leap to favouritism in the race to be the club's inaugural coach.
The panel liked his authenticity, his direct nature, and how he never lost the players at Alberton.
It's understood Hinkley is keen to fulfil a fair portion of his media duties for the remainder of the year, and next year the plan is for him to dive deeper into the role.
But the four-year, fully-fledged coaching contract will not kick in until 2028 and expire at the end of 2031.
Longmire had said publicly and privately he was never fully in. He had as many questions to ask the Devils as they had for him, while Buckley's next coaching move is surely to succeed Chris Scott at Geelong, whenever that time comes.
Hinkley will now be charged with uniting the state, taking what he learned at Gold Coast in that club's formative years and at Port Adelaide across 297 games to make the AFL's 19th club as competitive as possible, as soon as possible.
He will get the chance to build out the footy department - which includes the hiring of a footy boss - and develop a strategy from scratch.
It's a legacy role, one which will probably define his standing in the game.
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