Guernsey tells of the ties that bind

AT the heart of Paddy Ryder’s design for Port Adelaide’s indigenous round guernsey this weekend is the special relationship the players have with their coach.

The centrepiece of the design is the Power players sitting around a fire with Ken Hinkley sharing stories.

And in one of the biggest marks of respect Ryder could pay to Hinkley at Alberton, he says the indigenous players look up to him like they do an elder in their community.

“We have elders in our families and we respect our elders and to us Kenny is our elder,” Ryder said. “The young blokes all look up and listen to their elders. As players we look up to Kenny as a coach to lead us in the right direction.

“More importantly off the field he’s really good at it, being able to understand everyone’s background and everyone’s family and he’s very family oriented.

“Doing the right things, living well, treating your family well, and coming into the club and if your off-field part is right then you end up doing a lot better.

“At footy clubs you always need someone like Kenny to talk to and sometimes it’s not the head coach who provides that guidance, but we’re really lucky that you can go and sit down with him, his door is always open to help with life’s situations.”

Port Adelaide’s indigenous and multicultural players recreated the guernsey design this week with a fire on the sand ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Hawthorn in Launceston.

“That’s the centrepiece of the guernsey, all the indigenous boys sitting around with Ken sharing stories,” Ryder said. “That’s what Aboriginal spiritual culture is, sharing stories.”