{"id":812079,"date":"2026-07-20T11:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812079\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:05:11","slug":"afl-2026-ken-hinkley-blueprint-for-tasmania-devils-as-inaugural-head-coach-geelong-cats-community-vision-afl-360-interview-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812079\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Ken Hinkley blueprint for Tasmania Devils as inaugural head coach, Geelong Cats community vision, AFL 360, interview, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inaugural Tasmania Devils coach Ken Hinkley<\/a> has pointed to Geelong as the blueprint for the AFL\u2019s newest club, declaring the Cats\u2019 rise into a destination club proves Tasmania can attract the competition\u2019s best players.<\/p>\n

The AFL\u2019s 19th team officially unveiled Hinkley as its first senior coach on Monday, after signing a five-year deal in a historic moment for the \u2018Apple Isle\u2019 ahead of their 2028 entry into the competition.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Speaking to AFL 360 on his first day at the helm, Hinkley pointed to his former club Geelong \u2014 where he played 121 VFL games \u2014 as the blueprint for what the state can build.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a great advantage, the community set up down here,\u201d Hinkley began on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve only got to look down the road a little bit at Geelong, and what they\u2019ve been able to do. It\u2019s become a big destination club. Around football and around success well, but also around the community and the opportunities that are down there. I\u2019ve only got to sit back and listen to Jeremy Cameron and his premiership medal going around his cow\u2019s head!<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone needs to and wants to live in the city. They also embrace smaller cities like Hobart. If you could see the views behind me, you\u2019d understand what I\u2019m talking about. You\u2019d say: \u2018This is just a fantastic little place to come to, and a really proud community to be a part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019ll be plenty of good opportunities to sell to people, and they\u2019ll want to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken’s presentation that sealed the deal! | 02:12<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/p>\n

KEN\u2019S CHECKLIST: Ken\u2019s checklist: Trade targets, draft prodigies as new Tassie coach eyes dream team<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018DON\u2019T BE SURPRISED\u2019: Hinkley reveals why he wanted Devils job… and delivers bold list statement<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018IT\u2019S A BIT RICH\u2019: Devils boss whacks rival as Hinkley makes reveal over Tassie list strategy<\/a><\/p>\n

NO FLAG, NO WORRIES: Inside Ken\u2019s reverse pitch to land Tassie job… and how he beat Horse, Bucks<\/a><\/p>\n

Hinkley said becoming ingrained within the Tasmanian community would be central to the Devils\u2019 identity from day one, pointing to the success of the NBL\u2019s JackJumpers as an example to follow.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s basketball side, coached by Scott Roth, won a championship in just their third year at NBL level<\/a> in one of the nation\u2019s great sports fairytales during the modern era.<\/p>\n

‘Don’t be surprised’ – Ken talks up Tas | 33:50<\/p>\n

They remain a point of inspiration for Hinkley\u2019s Devils 18 months out from their first-ever AFL match, both on-field and their extension as a club.<\/p>\n

\u201cScott\u2019s done a great job at the JackJumpers, and they\u2019ve done a great job in the community already. I know some of the stories around what they\u2019ve been able to do with getting out and being a part of the community,\u201d Hinkley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re coming down to take this job, you have to appreciate the need to be in the community, and we\u2019ll certainly be embracing that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinkley\u2019s 13-year tenure at Port Adelaide yielded 282 home-and-away games, 15 finals appearances and six finals victories.<\/p>\n

While the 59-year-old never coached the Power to a grand final, his ability to consistently guide the club into September has long been one of the hallmarks of his coaching career.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, yes we\u2019ll add to the finals games, Gerard (Whateley)! Hopefully I\u2019ll improve the percentage of wins; that\u2019s what I\u2019ll be looking for,\u201d Hinkley said with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully at some part of the journey we\u2019ll be able to take one step further than we did at Port Adelaide. It\u2019d be lovely to be taking two steps, but we\u2019ll start with dreams and we\u2019ll chase them as hard as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s (a premiership) something that drives you every day, and it\u2019s something I\u2019d love to be a part of … it\u2019d be a nice little finish to say I\u2019m a premiership coach of the Devils.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inaugural Tasmania Devils coach Ken Hinkley has pointed to Geelong as the blueprint for the AFL\u2019s newest club,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-812079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}