- Oct 24, 2013
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Mate, no one disputes he can coach. I think everyone here agrees that he’s a relatively ‘good’ coach. He has a game plan than stacks up well against those clubs who don’t have the skills to beat it. It’s why he has such a good record against clubs down the bottom of the table. But he just doesn’t have the IQ or footy nous or spark to figure out the next step. He’s a coach who I think all of us agree was a good selection when we got him to steer us back on track. I think all of us here agree that he did some great work up until 2017. When we should have split there and he could have gone and coached another team that was struggling.Hinkley managed to get us within a kick of a grand final berth in 2014 and 2020, and both preliminary final losses were to triple premiership teams full of high draft picks. We haven't had many high draft picks over the years and got screwed by GC and GWS compromising the drafts when we bottomed out in 2011 and 2012, but with a little more luck going our way then we would have won the 2014 and 2020 preliminary finals and Hinkley could be a premiership coach.
Chris Fagan's finals record was similar to that not too long ago, remember when he had a 1-5 record in finals despite Brisbane's high ladder finishes? There were plenty of Brisbane fans wanting Fagan sacked as well, but Brisbane stuck with him and now he's a premiership coach. Keep in mind that Fagan is five years older than Hinkley so there is still time for Hinkley to improve and learn new tricks.
If Hinkley is the issue then how come we've finished top 4 in four of the last five years? I know people say it's because the list is great but you need to remember that Hinkley has built this list. Everyone on the list has been recruited and developed under Hinkley's tutelage except for Travis Boak.
But what he isn’t, is an innovator like Mitchell or Clarkson before him. He is not the coach we need right now when we are going full tilt for a premiership. Because he can’t deliver one. I don’t know how hard it is to understand.