Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has slammed the AFL for the way he was treated in the aftermath of his infamous exchange with Hawthorn gun Jack Ginnivan.
Hinkley was hit with a $20,000 fine for “conduct unbecoming” when he made an aeroplane gesture and directed comments at Ginnivan minutes after the Power defeated the Hawks in the 2024 semi-final.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Ken Hinkley explodes at Hawthorn players
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They were in direct response to Ginnivan writing “see u in 14 days” on former teammate Brodie Grundy’s Instagram post after the Swans won through to the preliminary final.
It laid the platform for a new rivalry with the two sides squaring off again in a marquee fixture to close Gather Round the following year.
The confrontation was heavily promoted in the lead-up to that game, including by the AFL’s own website, and Hinkley said he used it to motivate his side to a 30-point victory.
Hinkley never really revealed his true feelings of the saga, but now that he is no longer a coach, he aired it all out ahead of this week’s Gather Round.
Ken Hinkley copped a $20,000 fine for his actions in the 2024 semi-final against Hawthorn. Credit: Seven “One of my strengths was to make sure I used everything available and the Hawthorn game (in 2025) was clearly something that was significant and big from the year before with the unfortunate incident that went on,” he said on SEN
“The AFL decided to impose a fine on me and shame me, and I was pretty unforgiving of that to be honest.
“I just didn’t think there was an enormous amount of care in their way of treating me through that journey.
“Then we were coming up against Hawthorn in a game that was the headline act of Gather Round. Yeah, we used it to make sure that we gave ourselves a chance.
“We were playing a really strong Hawthorn, we had great game style to play against Hawthorn and we we’re really confident in that and we talked through the week about we know how to beat them and we know what beats them and we got them to the stage again where we were capable of getting over the line again.”
Hinkley went on to say he felt exploited by the AFL using his incident as the headline act in their promotion for Gather Round.
“Yeah, I did (feel exploited), there’s no doubt I did, and I can say that now because I’m out of the game and I can be a little bit more honest,” he continued.
“I made the mistake, I’d done the crime, which was OK. I owned that, talked about it quite openly straight afterwards and was embarrassed by my own behaviour.
“But then for the AFL to do what they did in fining me, which they have every right to do as I worked under the umbrella of their rules and everything that went on, so I wear that.
“But then to promote it on their website leading into Gather Round with me, Hawthorn and Ginni — who lucky enough took it in the right way — it felt a little bit misused for me if you’re making a moral stand on what I should and shouldn’t have been allowed to do.
“That’s just the way I felt.”
Hinkley was happy to cop the fine for his behaviour, but felt a lack of support in the aftermath.
When asked if the league showed any compassion to him, Hinkley paused before saying, “No” and adding that he was “hurt” by it.
“I didn’t deserve too much, but I deserved some form of care, I thought, and that didn’t come, so that was just what happened.”
Hinkley suggested his fine could have been payback for other incidents during his 13-year stint as Port coach which ceased at the end of last season.
“They (the AFL) had every right to do what they did,” he said.
“I just felt like there was a little bit extra in it for some reason.
“I probably caused them some problems over the journey in different ways, but maybe this was their chance to clip me properly, I don’t know.”