Hinkley explains post-win enthusiasm
KEN Hinkley admits he asked himself what he was thinking when reflecting on his wild celebrations in the coaches’ box following Port Adelaide’s thrilling Showdown win on Saturday night.
A usually reserved Hinkley screamed and pumped his fist after Steven Motlop’s gamewinning goal in the final minute, then gestured and yelled 5-0 and 1-0 with his hands after the Power broke a five-game Showdown losing streak by five points.
Speaking with Gerard Whateley on SEN radio on Monday morning, Hinkley said his wife, Donna, also issued him with a ‘please explain’ when he got home.
“Crazy, a bit out of control, and you look back on it now and go ‘What were you thinking?’” Hinkley said.
“But that’s what footy does to you, that’s the emotion of the game, that’s how much these players put in and how hard they work and we’d been struggling to get over Adelaide for a period of time.
“We respect them greatly with the type of team they’ve been, an outstanding side, so in such circumstances to break the 5-0 was pretty important for us but the way we did it made things bubble over.
“I think she (Donna) used words like silly, crazy and idiot, but she understands too that the emotions are crazy in the game we play and sometimes they’re out of control.
“Even for a coach I look back on that and think exactly that: ‘What was I thinking?
“I just got wound up in it too much and I suppose at some stage you’re going to let that happen, and, well, that was the game for it to happen.”
Hinkley gave a glimpse into what the 1-0 hand gesture was all about at Friday’s pre-game coaches’ press conference.
“We don’t enjoy losing to the Adelaide Crows, we don’t enjoy losing to anyone, we have a run that we’re not enjoying, and we get an opportunity tomorrow night to try to correct that.
“We understand the quality of the opponent and we will give our absolute best to get back and make the number 1-0 in our favour.”
In a wideranging interview, Hinkley described how Motlop’s goal in the final minute of the game was the result of a set play and he was just glad they got the reward for executing it.
“When Jakey Neade got the ball to ground it gave us a fighting chance,” Hinkley said.
“And when we made the decision to bring Steven to the club we knew he was this type of player, a big moments player who can finish for you and we were pretty comfortable it was in his hands.’’