Port Adelaide has given outgoing coach Ken Hinkley the ultimate goodbye after 13 years at the helm, defeating Gold Coast in a heart-stopping four-point win on Friday night.
The Power trailed at the first two breaks, but put the foot on the pedal in the second half to eventually win out 10.11 (71) over the Suns’ 9.13 (67).
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The victory in front of a vocal Adelaide Oval crowd was the most fitting farewell for Hinkley, 387-game club legend Travis Boak and Rory Atkins, with the home side rallying as they have so often done across tenure.
By extension, the loss for Damien Hardwick’s Suns now leaves them with a do-or-die clash against Essendon next Wednesday night, as they will finish the weekend sitting in ninth place still stuck on 14 wins.
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MATCH CENTRE: Port Adelaide v Gold Coast final scores, stats and more
The depleted Power played with enormous heart and out-of-sorts Gold Coast looked anything but top-four material and is still in danger of missing the finals altogether with the shock result.
Against a team with so much on the line, brave Port dug deep to do it for Ken and Trav one last time, overcoming a 15-point deficit at half-time to lead by six points at three-quarter time.
In a pulsating final term, Mitch Georgiades was awarded a free kick with 12 minutes remaining after going to ground with what appeared minimal contact from Mac Andrew.
The Power sharpshooter made the most of his opportunity, booting his third goal to give his side a five-point lead.
Georgiades plucked a superb pack mark three minutes later to make it a 12-point game.
Jy Farrar’s second goal with six minutes left set up an almost unbearably tense climax, Hinkley’s heroes hanging on to score one of the most memorable wins of his tenure.
Incredibly, Gold Coast has never won at Adelaide Oval in 13 attempts, a fortress they’ve struggled to breach for 15 years now.
Boak was outstanding in his final appearance at the top level in 19 years, finishing the match with 22 disposals, nine tackles and five clearances. Atkins was injected into the match at three-quarter time, and had three touches.
Each of the Power’s mid-season draftees in Ewan Mackinlay and Harry Ramm showed glimpses of a very bright future ahead at Alberton, with the latter tasked with the difficult job on Ben King, who kicked three goals.
— with Jason Phelan, Newswire
Port Adelaide goalkickers: Georgiades 4, Whitlock, Mackinley, Liddy, Richards, Lord, Rozee
Gold Coast goalkickers: Long, King 3, Farrar 2, Read
‘EMOTIONAL PRICK’: KEN’S FINAL GOODBYE AS GOOD AS IT GETS
In his final match ever as Port Adelaide’s head coach, that win had Ken Hinkley’s DNA all over it.
The 58-year-old has taken Port to 15 finals matches in 13 years, four of which were preliminary finals, and managed to achieve almost everything but the holy grail.
Speaking to Fox Footy minutes before the first bounce, an emotional Hinkley spoke through his unique build up to his 282nd and final game as head coach of Port Adelaide — as well as the invaluable impact retiree Travis Boak has had on Alberton.
“It’s been pretty good, but I’ve been a bit crook! I missed the last captain’s run, which seems a bit stupid, but I’m here tonight so that’s the main thing,” Hinkley told Fox Footy’s Cameron Mooney.
“He’s (Boak) the reason the club’s here — people shouldn’t undersell that. He is the reason this football club is here. He made a decision that made sure that this footy club lives on, and we should be forever in debt to him.
“I’ve been lucky to coach the club, but I wouldn’t have had a club to coach without Travis. He is absolutely everything to Port Adelaide.
“I didn’t say nothing to them (pre-game); I got ‘Pep’ (Sam Powell-Pepper) to talk to the boys, because I’m an emotional prick — so it was a bit hard. But Pep was really good.”
Hinkley finishes with a winning percentage of 59.57%, an extraordinarily high number given the state of Port Adelaide when he first took over in 2013, as well as this season being the worst in his entire tenure.
“Some of the supporters have had enough of him, but some of them I don’t think appreciate how good he’s been for the football club … I love what he’s done,” Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto said.
“If you’re a Port Adelaide player, how could you not play well tonight? How could you not give 110% effort.
“Travis Boak has given so much to every other player at the football club. You’d just be trying to give absolutely everything; not just for Travis, but obviously Ken as well.”
‘I’m an emotional pr*ck’ | 00:40
AFL WORLD SAYS GOODBYE TO 387-GAME POWER LEGEND, VERSATILE JOURNEYMAN
As much as Port Adelaide’s win was as fitting a sendoff they could ever give coach Ken Hinkley, it was also the finish that retiring pair Travis Boak and Rory Atkins deserved.
Boak, who finishes his 19-year career with 387 games next to his name, knocked out one more grand performance to play an instrumental role in the four-point thriller.
Speaking to Fox Footy post-game, the relieved 37-year-old was humble upon reflection, crediting the banged-up list at Alberton who has had a sub-par year on-field.
“I’m gassed, I’m gassed. I’m so proud of the boys, it’s been a tough year,” Boak admitted.
“Half the list is on one leg; busted shoulders, guys couldn’t walk tonight and they still went out there and had a crack. I’m so proud of the group, and I’m so excited to see what they can do in the future … it’s been one hell of a ride.
“This is the stuff you play footy for. The wins come secondary to the moments you get to experience and share with the fans and the players. I’m blown away by the crowd tonight.”
His teammate of one season in Atkins was brought in for one final AFL game for his first match at the top level since Round 11, and played the final quarter after being named the sub.
The former Crows and Suns winger finishes his career with 141 matches in the AFL, three of which were at the Power this season.
SUNS FALL ONCE MORE AT FINALS HURDLE… BUT IT COULD BE A ‘GOOD EXPERIENCE’
It’s been 5,256 days, over 172 months and 15 years since Gold Coast’s inception into the AFL.
Tonight was meant to be the night they secured their first-ever finals appearance, but no thanks to a valiant Power side playing for multiple club legends, that dream will now need to be realised next Wednesday, if at all in 2025.
The Suns needed to win just one of their two remaining fixtures against Port Adelaide on Friday night or Essendon next Wednesday, with all hopes now placed on the final home-and-away fixture of the year up at People First Stadium.
Three-time Brisbane premiership forward Jonathan Brown was optimistic on the opportunity to play an emotional Power side, albeit before the final siren sounded in the hosts’ favour.
“For Gold Coast, it’s a good experience. I know they’re trying to make finals, but it’s good experience with this finals-type intensity — even though Port are nowhere near the finals.”
Inaccuracy in front of goal hurt Damien Hardwick’s side dearly, with 10 behinds in the first half preventing the visitors from putting the game to bed.
Sunday afternoon’s fixture between Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs was long seen as a do-or-die fixture, where the winner would secure their spot in September. But that assumption was made under the provision the Suns walked away from Adelaide Oval with four points.
It now means that there is a world where the Western Bulldogs win on Sunday, and Fremantle can still make finals should Gold Coast lose to the Bombers.
Re-live our coverage of Port Adelaide v Gold Coast in our blog below! Can’t see the blog?Click here
POWER TEAM
B: K.Farrell, B.Zerk-Thatcher, D.Byrne-Jones
HB: J.Mead, A.Aliir, La.Jones
C: J.Berry, W.Drew, M.Liddy
HF: W.Rioli, J.Whitlock, T.Boak
F: J.McEntee, M.Georgiades, J.Richards
FOLL: J.Sweet, C.Rozee (c), Z.Butters
I/C: O.Lord, C.Moraes, H.Ramm, E.Mackinlay, R.Atkins (sub)
EMG: J.Finlayson, J.Lai, W.Lorenz
SUNS TEAM
B: W.Powell, M.Andrew, S.Collins
HB: J.Noble, B.Uwland, J.Jeffrey
C: L.Weller, M.Rowell, B.Fiorini
HF: T.Miller, B.Ainsworth, C.Budarick
F: B.Long, J.Farrar, B.King
FOLL: J.Witts, A.Davies, N.Anderson (c)
I/C: A.Sexton, E.Read, L.Gulbin, O.Adams, S.Flanders (sub)
EMG: N.Holman, N.Moyle, L.Lombard