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Lyon: Port Adelaide’s Hinkley call the “dumbest” decision
SEN • August 20th, 2025 9:50 am
Port Adelaide’s succession plan has been described as one of the “dumbest” things we’ve seen from an AFL club in recent times.
That is the opinion of Garry Lyon who was strong in his stance that Ken Hinkley has been treated poorly by the Power who implemented the coaching strategy that will see Josh Carr take over at the end of the season.
Lyon says the way this has panned out for the Power should act as a significant cautionary tale for other clubs.
"The lesson here for any club, and I’ll try to simplify it down to this one statement - You can only have one senior coach at a club at one time," Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
"That is as simple as you can say it. If you want it, you go back to it and say - and this is not a crack at Ken Hinkley, I think they’ve hung him out to dry – ‘Ken, you’re not coaching us beyond this year’.
"They made a decision on their senior coach, so Ken would have rightly said ‘okay, pay me out and I’ll head off’. I don’t know if he did, but they said, ‘no, you’re going to coach the year, and not only are you going to coach the year, but we’ve appointed the bloke who is going to succeed you, and he’s going to sit over your shoulder for the whole year’.
"That will go down as one of the dumbest things in recent times. As a result of that, then you go, ‘okay, let’s review our decision, how did it go?’
"Well, on the back of that decision that you made on Ken Hinkley, you’ve had your worst ever year for points for, your worst ever year for points against. The turnover difference, which is critical in today’s footy, your worst ever result there.
"The contested possession number, which is the heart of Ken, your worst ever contested, your worst ever clearance year and your worst ever inside 50 year.
"How’d that work for you, telling your coach that’s given you great service for 12 or 13 years that he isn’t coaching beyond the year, but you’re going to hang around anyway?
"How do you reckon that looks?"
Co-host Tim Watson felt that perhaps the subpar season endured by the Power with Hinkley at the helm also might have cost them Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
“Its been a disaster,” Watson said.
“If you really want to stretch it, it might have even cost them Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. I’m just throwing it out there.
“If he was considering going back, had they had a better year… it seems to me that if he was going back to Adelaide then possibly his preferred option would have been to go to Port Adelaide where he’s got some mates.”
The Power will finish their 2025 campaign against Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. They currently sit 13th on the ladder with an 8-14 record.
