The inside story of a coaching coup 17 years in the making

The first time Tassie Devils chief executive Brendon Gale saw the possibilities Ken Hinkley had as coach was way back in 2009 when he was the new Tigers boss and Hinkley was competing with Damien Hardwick for the vacant Richmond coaching job.

Then a Geelong assistant, Hinkley arrived at the house of Tigers board member Maurice O’Shannassy to make a final pitch for the job.

Struck by the size of the room he had entered, Hinkley put everyone at ease when he exclaimed, “bloody big room, Maurice”.

He then roared home with a brilliant presentation that saw him just pipped at the post for the job by Hardwick.

Gale watched and admired what Hinkley then built at Port Adelaide when he got his chance as senior coach after a stint with start-up club Gold Coast. At the Suns Hinkley became the glue that gave many of the fresh-faced recruits hope that being at the expansion team might be worthwhile.

About 18 months ago, Gale again had cause to consider teaming up with Hinkley as a senior coach. As he and everyone else who was anyone in footy descended on Adelaide for Gather Round, he reached out for a chat with the Port Adelaide coach.

The succession plan at Port had already been confirmed so Hinkley, knowing he would hand over to Josh Carr at the end of the season, was entitled to meet with whoever he wanted. His departure from Alberton at the end of 13 seasons and four preliminary finals was imminent and he was a free agent.

The pair met at Hinkley’s house for a general chat about what a start-up club might need in both personnel and attitude. It was informal. If anything, Hinkley might have been considered at that time as a logical person to become the Devils’ football manager, working one out, one back rather than being the face of the AFL’s 19th team.

Gale appreciated Hinkley’s willingness to share his knowledge, his love of footy and what a team in Tasmania might represent.

There was plenty of time to choose a coach, with the plan at that stage being to appoint a head of development and a football manager first.

And Gale was still crystallising in his mind what type of person would best represent and build the club.

He knew the first coach had to be experienced. This was not a job for someone with L-plates.

The coach also had to be able to get out on the hustings in Tasmania, to bring the community along with the Devils. And the coach needed to create a club culture which both attracted and retained players and staff, listening to and supporting and inspiring young and old alike.

There were all sorts of names floating around in public such as Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan, who, as a former Tasmanian, was an obvious prospect. However, he had dragged the Lions from the bottom to top. Fagan would help the Devils however he could, but pretending he was desperate to start climbing another football Everest in his mid-60s would be crazy.

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was an impressive character who was keen to explore the opportunity. John Longmire suddenly ended his time at Sydney to decompress in administration at the Swans. Current coaches were considered, too. Then someone at the Devils said Hinkley should be considering becoming the coach rather than the football manager.

Hinkley admitted that was where his heart really was, telling Gale: “I’m a footy coach. That is what I know. I don’t know too much else, I just know what a footy coach does and how he behaves.“

His work on Fox Footy and SEN in his first season out of clubland was impressive. He was relaxed but informative and his love for his former players at Port Adelaide - and their love for him - was obvious too. The same story could be told of those who he coached and stayed in touch with from Geelong and Gold Coast.

It’s not a trail many coaches leave behind.

The club settled on three candidates: Buckley, Longmire and Hinkley. They set up a coaching panel including Gale, the president Grant O’Brien, football director Alastair Lynch, and strategy and people manager Lauren Jauncey.

And they began to do the work with an urgency they kept well hidden. Buckley presented, having been in many discussions with Gale, who drilled down on the Geelong assistant coach’s traits. Then Longmire met the crew in Sydney, asking as many questions as he gave answers.

Of the three, only the Sydney coach had a premiership next to his name, but the first five years would be about more than filling the trophy cabinet.

Hinkley was last, with the coaching panel travelling to meet him where he presented the three Cs at the foundation of how he sees himself as a coach: “character, care and connection”.

He spoke of the importance of development and drew on his experience at the fledgling Gold Coast to emphasise the challenges ahead. The club also wanted to be convinced that the fire remained in his belly to win a premiership. They realised quickly that was the case.

Hinkley wanted to believe that the Tassie Devils’ administration understood that a build would be difficult but could be fun, too. Once he was convinced the club was on the same page as him, he went for the job as hard as any of the jobs he has chased in the past.

By the weekend, things began to move quickly and Hinkley was invited by Gale to present again.

This time the presentation would occur in Hobart. If all went well, the selection panel would then be ready to recommend Hinkley to the board.

Before dawn broke on Sunday, the 59-year-old was readying himself to catch a Virgin flight to Tasmania’s capital and news of his trip was emerging. At Melbourne airport, he bumped into the club’s marketing manager Kath McCann, who was heading back from Queensland.

He travelled lightly as he was not yet certain he had the job, although his confidence was growing.

At Hobart’s Tasman Hotel, he made his final presentation and wowed the panel as much as he had impressed Richmond 17 years earlier.

The meeting delved into granular details such as what would be prioritised, what would the program look like, how would he lead, how would he pull together the team and club.

After a short period of reflection the board was brought into the conversation.

On Sunday afternoon, around 2:30pm, the decision to offer Hinkley a five-year deal, officially starting on November 1st, was finalised. His media commitments would continue alongside his preparations as Tassie Devils coach.

Gale said he wants Tasmanians to get behind the club and Hinkley would lead the way.

“He’s authentic. He says what he thinks and feels and there is a real sincerity and a real frankness that Tasmanians will really respond to,” Gale said.

By 11am Monday morning Hinkley was standing alongside O’Brien and Gale at Hobart’s Botanic Gardens and being officially unveiled as coach.

He was talking about chasing players, the importance of appointing the right football manager and head of development.

He was sincere in saying he expected that once his wife, Donna, and he moved to Hobart there was a chance his children and grandchildren might follow. He was looking forward to exploring Tasmania to talk football with people from all walks of life. He envisaged training camps in various parts of the state.

He imagined a packed stadium with the Devils playing under a roof at Macquarie Point stadium four years into his tenure.

“I’m a coach and when I get the opportunity to coach young people particularly it’s something that I thrive in,” Hinkley said. “As much as we are a start-up club we are a football state.”

And he wasted no time in setting his sights on winning a premiership.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we were going to win,” Hinkley said.