Hinkley bid denied
Suns say they haven’t made a move for Power coach
A GOLD Coast return for Ken Hinkley looks increasingly unlikely as the Suns continue their search for the club’s next coach.
Speculation was rife that the Port Adelaide head coach had been offered a long-term deal with significant financial clout by the Suns to become Rodney Eade’s successor in Queensland.
Gold Coast have dismissed suggestions Hinkley, a former Suns assistant, was being head-hunted by the club and remain adamant that no approach has been made to him informally or formally.
The Suns stated they had made no approach to any coach when they initially sacked Eade in August and are sticking to the process of putting forth a list of six to eight candidates forward to their five-person interview panel before recommending one to the board.
Hinkley is contracted to the Power until the end of 2018 but has the backing of president David Koch and the board is expected to give him a contract extension until the end of 2020.
Port Adelaide finished the season in fifth and were bundled out of the finals on Saturday following a two-point extra-time loss to West Coast.
Gold Coast are on the hunt for an experienced coach and Hinkley has become one of the most fancied after Brad Scott re-signed with North Melbourne.
Suns CEO Mark Evans is expected to start formal interviews this week and was at Port Adelaide’s finals game at the weekend. The Gold Coast boss pointed to his close relationship with retiring Eagles player Sam Mitchell, who he forged a close bond with at Hawthorn, as the reason behind his appearance in case it was the midfielder’s final game.
Hinkley spent three years at the Gold Coast until the end of 2012 when he was appointed to the top job at Port Adelaide, where former Suns forward Charlie Dixon now plays.
Hinkley was regarded as a major tool in Gold Coast’s bid to lure Gary Ablett to the club after sharing a close relationship with the former Cats midfielder during his time as an assistant at Geelong.
The man who helped draw the Brownlow medallist to Queensland could have seen to be the one to convince Ablett to stay next year if he returned to the Suns.
Hinkley failed to take Port Adelaide to the finals in the previous two seasons but led them to a 14-8 win-loss count in 2017.
Port Adelaide have been unwilling to extend Hinkley’s contract throughout most of this year and speculation from Gold Coast could help him increase his value on a new deal in South Australia.
The Hinkley speculation could reignite tensions between Koch and his Suns counterpart Tony Cochrane following their verbal battle in the lead-up to this season’s historic game in China.
Cochrane drew the ire of Koch after refusing to back down from their decision to wear their traditional red guernsey, the national colours of China, for the match in Shanghai.