Certified Legendary Thread Sack Hinkley 12 - Finals Are Scary

[Chrizzt]

When's the last time a coach who has lost a prelim or a GF been sacked?

When's the last time a coach has spent 12 seasons at a club without a single grand final appearance?

It wouldn't be a complete paradigm shift to see Hinkley sacked after making a PF either.

I know he was sacked when the Dogs were basically ruled out of finals contention, but Eade was sacked off the back of three prelims in a row. Grant Thomas was sacked off the back of two prelims and after an elimination finals defeat where basically half his best 22 were out injured. Stan Alves obviously sacked after losing a semi despite making the GF the year before.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

We've won 4 finals away from home in our AFL history.

2004 - GF Vs Brisbane
2005 - EF Vs Kangaroos
2013 - EF Vs Collingwood
2014 - SF Vs Fremantle

Never won an away PF, lost 2002, 2003.
Never won an away QF, lost 2001, 2023.

Away Finals Total: 12 (4W-8L)
Home Finals Total: 18 (9W-9L)

We are undoubtedly better off playing home finals. We'll lose Friday though, so anything beyond that is pointless even discussing.


Ultimately our squad and group is buggered. Ratagolea played 2 good games forward and now is being wrongly persisted with. Dixon is broken and being persisted with, all because Marshall and Lord have either failed or been injured, and Finlayson is out. Then you have the loss of SPP which combined with the loss of Farrell & Houston is creating a huge issue for us in team balance on the outside. Our forward and half back flanker situation is a mess. Having all of Evans, Narkle, McEntee and DBJ in one team is a recipe for disaster. Burton was ok last week but is flaky too. DBJ has worked forward where his pointless hacks and poor aerial defence have been hidden and suddenly he is a sharpshooter applying good pressure. Yet now he's being messed around with. McEntee has been in horrific form all year and should never have come back in, and was downright embarrassing last week. Narkle has barely played footy in the last however many weeks, half games, quarters here and there for ages. Then you have the midfield and Mead who has faded incredibly badly this year, probably banged up and exhausted but just declining in form and confidence at a rapid rate. Combined with the poor ball use of Boak always and Wines in the last few weeks, we're just struggling all over the shop and too much is being left on Butters, Burgoyne and JHF, and with Butters badly injured we're in big trouble.

It's not just coaching, it's the entire position of our squad, the confidence, the positional issues, which have been masked over the last 3 years of the year where a loss might've actually done us good to make change, rather than just stick with the same group too long.

You forgot we lost the 2014 away PF to Hawks.

 

[morell]

Blood boiling.

So much for the "learnings". View attachment 2107475

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

That's extraordinary

I know it's only the media but for the love of god has no one had a look at where we went wrong? What we could do to improve? Had a conversation with our players on what we want them to do better?

This says in a roundabout way

"Our coaches have not done anything about it"

 

[NuriootpaTigers]

Once we sack him, it's nice knowing we only have West Coast to compete with to find the best coach on the market. And I know which list I'd prefer to be in charge of.

In before we settle on Nathan Buckley though.

 

[philreich]

That's pretty much all true. But Slobbo is right, JHF should be starting on the ground. No-brainer.

Selection committee meeting - Ken comes up with a tricky plan to confuse the Hawks......JHF will be the surprise sub........

 

[Power Girl]

On a more interesting note, Kano is clearly getting botox and also looks to have hair plugs to disguise that receding hairline.

If only he would employ a personality coach

 

[Cheesey Mac]

Was watching the Eddie and Jimmy podcast like others here have mentioned. Saw the part where Eddie claimed to have spoken to a senior Port Adelaide person about them hoping we beat Hawthorn so we don't have do go back to Adelaide. I 100% believe this to be the case. I didn't raise it on here before the final, but we have definitely created some sort of hoodoo for ourselves at Adelaide Oval. I actually really like the whole "Never Tear Us Apart" thing and the fireworks etc. but given the psyche our group has inherited / developed around expectation and pressure,... like I said... you could see the fear and "deer in the headlights" look on our players faces as they ran out the race. It's ESPECIALLY pertinent during 'make or break' moments of the game, like the start and if the opposition start mounting a comeback or break a run of goals against. It might be projection, but the feeling is palpable. You can feel that doubt creep in and the PTSD from previous shitshows creep in. I don't know what we have to do to break it. It felt like the move to Adelaide Oval was a good reset for the club in terms of stuff like this, but unfortunately during Ken's reign we've let too many of these big defeats happen on our own deck in big games that I 100% believe it's contributing factor on nights like last Thursday. We need some sort of mental break, something different to just deflate everything and get it back to just a bunch of blokes paying footy. It's going to be difficult to have that happen this week with even more pressure on the game. It 'might' just be enough having a new coach. I dunno.

The players have had things fall apart so many times under Ken it makes sense that they're fragile. They're a reflection of the coach, he's been there for 12 years and indoctrinated so many of them with his scared loser attitude it's a miracle they continue to make the 8 at all.

The players on our list came from the same draft pool that the Geelong/Hawthorn/Collingwood etc players come from, their clubs play in front of big crowds routinely and don't get stage fright, their players are able to execute and turn up switched on, they're able to weather the opposition kicking a few goals without completely capitulating... There's no reason ours can't or shouldn't, it's entirely cultural and mental within our club, and while our club used to be strong mentally and culturally, we are now run by a group of weak men who are afraid.

You see it in sport all the time where the players take on the personality of the coach. We've had a coach who is afraid and ill-prepared, the players are afraid and ill-prepared. If we can finally rid ourselves of this absolute cancer of a coach we may be able to salvage what is a talented group and actually see some success. It would just be nice to go to a big game and feel like an absolute capitulation isn't 2 opposition goals away.

 

[Harlott]

Do we win big games away? I’m not sure it makes any difference.

Coobk001 RussellEbertHandball

We beat Collingwood in an elim ‘13 but lost to Geelong the next week. In ‘14 we beat freo in a semi then lost to Hawthorn in a prelim. Nothing since then. Away finals since Hinkley is 2/2 win loss. We lost in Brisbane last year.

 

[PowerLil]

Why are you so shy - why don't you say what you really think?

Because the sh*t sandwich he's been feeding us since 2016 has been stuck in my throat for a long time and I've had jack of it.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

I'd take one for the team if it meant getting rid of this moron.

I'm happy to wait until Friday night to see if your sacrifice is necessary.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Blood boiling.

So much for the "learnings". View attachment 2107475

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

That is extremely telling and doesn't bode well for the game against the Hawks.

 

[Harlott]

Blood boiling.

So much for the "learnings". View attachment 2107475

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

How about your double f***** fumble in the first few seconds. It was my instant red flag.

 

[Tibbs]

Not buying it.

Straight sets have become the rule since 2014. Most of those cases are prior to that. The exception is Geelong in 2017 (lost to RIC; beat SYD).

Since 2014

• overall, QF losers have won 11 times, while EF winners have won 9.
• the best-seeded team lost a QF 5 times. They are 3-2 in SF. Both losses are the last ones: 2019 (BRI), 2022 (MEL).
• only in 2017 and 2020, no team went out in straight sets.
• in 2014, both QF losers did it.
• QF results seem to have no impact on the SF.

So, it's basically a coin toss.

Oh I agree with you... In fact I think we will win it! I was just offering an explanation for the post

 

[EskimoPAFC]

We seem to be really mad around here this morning.

That’s what a decade of incompetence and gaslighting does to people.

Resist, my friends. Resist!

I'm actually feeling more positive about Port than I have in ages. Good AFLW win on the weekend and after Friday we might finally have what we've wanted for 5-7 years or failing that be in a prelim vs our bunnies.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

We beat Collingwood in an elim ‘13 but lost to Geelong the next week. In ‘14 we beat freo in a semi then lost to Hawthorn in a prelim. Nothing since then. Away finals since Hinkley is 2/2 win loss. We lost in Brisbane last year.

So its 2-3 not 2-2 and
Home 3-5. So basically the same.

 

[philreich]

So Kenny is going to Brisbane?

I think he should be the next coach of the England cricket team - there hasn't been a 5-0 whitewash for a while, and I'd back Ken to break the drought.

 

[PowerBaz]

That is extremely telling and doesn't bode well for the game against the Hawks.

Kind of implies they haven't even addressed anything as an issue, 'sweep it under the rug'....

 

[El_Scorcho]

That's extraordinary

I know it's only the media but for the love of god has no one had a look at where we went wrong? What we could do to improve? Had a conversation with our players on what we want them to do better?

This says in a roundabout way

"Our coaches have not done anything about it"

Old mate "wouldn't change a thing* after the 2021 prelim has now turned that into the worst 4 game stretch of finals in league history. Nobody is surprised.

 

[Bump Bailey]

Old mate "wouldn't change a thing* after the 2021 prelim has now turned that into the worst 4 game stretch of finals in league history. Nobody is surprised.

There was no review or post-mortem of that particular game with the players either, which turned into a 0-5 start to the following season.

Patterns.

 

[PowerLil]

Old mate "wouldn't change a thing* after the 2021 prelim has now turned that into the worst 4 game stretch of finals in league history. Nobody is surprised.

Brad Hardie's comments about a "heated discussion" at the selection table regarding playing injured players and cry-baby Kenny getting his way is so en pointe.

 

[Finest of Wines]

Blood boiling.

So much for the "learnings". View attachment 2107475

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

The issue is the game plan (and mental fragility) but king Ken isn’t going to admit that to the players. Hawthorn will do the same as Geelong did last week by running and handballing, rather than kicking long down the line, to get through the forward press

 

[simba_]

"for some reason" is a mind-bending thing to see an athlete say. i can't recall a player ever admitting how clueless they are. they always say it was workrate or accuracy or their bad start or whatever.

 

[JimmyBC]

Thorough examination of games & preparation under Hinkley yields observations like "Wouldn't change anything" "No nothing stands out" "For some reason" .. They must be like mensa meetings.

 

[johnnysix]

Do we win big games away? I’m not sure it makes any difference.

Coobk001 RussellEbertHandball

Perhaps just easier to hide when we don't.

 

[PowerBaz]

if Carr ends up being coach, I hope he is honest with the failures to all and sundry...