South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has weighed in after Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was booed off the ground on Saturday.
The veteran Power coach was left in no doubt over what his fans thought of him after slumping to a 79-point AFL loss at the hands of Brisbane.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas weighs in after Ken Hinkley booed off.
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Sections of the Port crowd roundly booed Hinkley when he was shown on Adelaide Oval’s big screens, and also post-match as he walked down the race with club staff.
“It’s not fun. It’s not what I enjoy. It’s just what the reality is of my job,” Hinkley said after the match. “If you can’t cope with it, you probably shouldn’t be in my job. I can cope with it. I don’t enjoy it, it’s not my favourite time.”
Asked about the drama on Sunday, Malinauskas — an avid footy fan — said he didn’t like the look of it, but understood why it happened.
“Footy fans are passionate,” the Premier said. “I think booing’s never great, but people are passionate and they are desperate for success, and that’s part of the experience.
“I’m not condoning it, but I think we all want to see our footy teams do as well as they can, and fans are passionate about it.
“And often we see emotion in our game — there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said the abuse of Hinkley was the only downer of his day.
“For me, if there’s one disappointment about winning today’s game, it’s the fact that he got booed off the ground, I don’t like that,” he said.
“Coaching is a hard caper … I’m a big supporter of all coaches.
“His record here at this club is extraordinary and he shouldn’t be judged on one performance.”
Hinkley holds the record for most VFL/AFL games coached without reaching a grand final — 262 — despite an impressive winning percentage of 59.7 per cent.
But he’s far from writing off the season after a third consecutive loss leaves the Power in seventh spot, two premiership points above the Lions.
Referring to his young midfielders, who were collectively thrashed by Brisbane’s battle-hardened core, Hinkley said: “I know at their best they can cause any team some significant issues.
“I am not going to sit here and surrender, I won’t do that.
“I will sit here and say that I expect the boys to get better.”
But he conceded the Power were short of the league’s pacesetters.
“We have shown that we are OK, but we’re not one of the best teams in the comp, we sit below that – everyone agrees,” Hinkley said.
The Lions jumped to eighth spot ahead of Sunday matches in stunning style, scoring 12 consecutive goals from midway through the second quarter until midway through the third.
– With AAP