Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley believes the AFL “messed up” by placing active coaches in the two Origin set-ups, claiming it might give involved clubs “a leg up” in the race for potential trade targets.

The AFL last year appointed Geelong’s Chris Scott and Sydney’s Dean Cox as Victoria and WA’s respective coaches for Saturday’s AFL Origin match – the first official AFL state representative game since 1999.

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Cox’s WA assistants will be Fremantle’s Justin Longmuir and Adelaide’s Nathan van Berlo, while Scott will be assisted by Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell and Gold Coast’s Shaun Grigg.

Both WA and Victoria’s squads feature players who either have a big contract call to make at season’s end or recently been linked to rival clubs.

Star Victorian duo Zak Butters (Port Adelaide) and Ben King (Gold Coast) are both out of contract at the end of the year, while all eyes will be on contracted six-time Essendon best and fairest winner Zach Merrett in 2026 after his attempt to join Hawthorn late last year fell over, with a deadline day deal not stuck.

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And despite fending off rival interest last year to re-sign with Sydney, star midfielder Chad Warner’s contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.

Asked if the AFL had overlooked the possibility of active club coaches influencing players’ future trade calls when deciding on this year’s Origin coaching panels, Hinkley told SEN’s Sportsday on Wednesday night: “One hundred per cent they have. It is an absolute advantage to those coaches.

“What’s the buzz word in football these days? We talk about it all the time. What are coaches and players trying to do? They’re trying to connect, ‘connection’ is the word we look for all the time.

“If you get a four or five-day opportunity to create some connection with a potential new player, whoever the coaches are – and I’m not going to single out any of the coaches, because it’s not the coaches’ decision. Let’s be really clear, this was an AFL decision. It’s a really simple AFL decision they have not thought about in any way, shape or form to consider the advantage they may or may not give.”

Hinkley gave the example of when then-Port Adelaide star Chad Wingard played for Australia’s International Rules teams in 2014 and was briefly in the 2015 squad before pulling out with injury. The Aussies were led by four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson in both years. Wingard left the Power to join Hawthorn after the 2018 season.

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“Part of that conversation – and I remember the conversations he (Wingard) was having – was that he enjoyed playing under ‘Clarko’ and he thought ‘maybe I’d like to play for Clarko’. He’d never had an opportunity to connect with Clarko before that,” Hinkley said.

“If you think about that, the AFL have not (given) any thought, I believe, on what should’ve happened here. There’s so many options out there in the State of Origin world that could’ve coached. Paul Roos could’ve coached or we could’ve had Adam Simpson, we could’ve had Guy McKenna or Peter Sumich to coach the Western Australians.

“I get it. Everyone wants to be involved in this great game … But those relationships can stick and can make a decision (to move clubs) a little bit easier. Clearly that’s not the only (reason), because they get to talk to players anytime of the year, but if that makes it a little bit better, there’s enough discrepancies in the system now – whether it be draw, list management, academy, whatever you want to call them in the challenges of building a premiership list – this is just another one the AFL didn’t need to add to it.

“I’m sure if the AFL had their time again, they’d sit back and think: ‘Gee, that’s a little bit of common sense if I think like that.’”

Hinkley said “you wouldn’t be doing your job” as an AFL coach if you weren’t trying to use the Origin experience to build a rapport with a player who could be a future acquisition for your club.

“No one needs a leg up in the race and it’s not right that you should get a head start on the field … The AFL have messed this up,” he said.