Cats won't ditch Hinkley if Tigers pounceafl.com.au
By Mic Cullen 4:37 PM Tue 18 August, 2009
GEELONG says it would defy standard procedure and ask assistant coach Ken Hinkley to stay on through September even if he accepts the position as the senior coach at Richmond.
The Tigers job, which is expected to be announced next week, has Hinkley as one of the front runners, with Damien Hardwick, Alan Richardson and Jade Rawlings making up the final four.
Collingwood assistant coach Brad Scott secured the top job at North Melbourne on Monday afternoon, and was told by the Magpies within a couple of hours that, much as they loved him, his services were no longer required at the Lexus Centre.
As in business, it is now standard practice in football to exclude soon-to-be-ex-employees from the workplace in order to protect the intellectual property of the organisation.
Port Adelaide did that with Alastair Clarkson as they headed into the finals – and a flag – in 2004 when he snared the top job at the Hawks, and Carlton star Chris Judd also found out how quickly clubs move to protect themselves – when he arrived at Subiaco Oval for his media conference to announce that he was heading to the Blues, he found that his electronic access tab to get into the clubrooms had been disabled.
But Cats coach Mark Thompson said he hoped that Hinkley would both get the job and also stay on through the finals campaign.
"From all the rumours and reports, he's down to the last two or three, so if Kenny was lucky enough to get the job, we'd be very happy for him to stay here," Thompson said from Skilled Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
"We'd want him to stay here and finish off what he's done – he's a big part of what we do here, and if he was to leave, it would leave a massive hole and we don't want that, we want our team working as a group for as long as we last."
Earlier this year, Thompson told geelongcats.com.au exclusively – before succession plans became flavour of the month – that Hinkley could be the man to replace him at Geelong, but he admitted that he expected some other team would snap him up before that happens.
"If he's not Geelong's next coach, and he happens to get a job somewhere else, well, I think he's more than ready," Thompson said.
"I certainly don't want to lose him, but I understand that he deserves to be a senior coach."
Hinkley was an obvious candidate once senior jobs began to pop up late in the season – as a player he racked up 121 games for Geelong between 1989 and 1996, won the club's 1992 best and fairest, was All-Australian twice, was co-captain in 1995, and played in three losing grand finals, and since then, the 42-year-old has taken teams in the Hampden and Geelong leagues to flags and been an assistant at St Kilda before lobbing back at the Cats in 2005.
"Experience and talent," was Thompson's response when asked what a team would get if they took Hinkley into the top football job.
"Tactically he's very good – he's brilliant in the box on matchdays, and he's a very positive coach.
"He's been at St Kilda, he's coached his own teams and won premierships, and then he's been here for four or five years and he's really been a big part of this program and getting the place to where it is."
Thompson said Hinkley had the required attributes to thrive in the top job, and is more than happy to say so publicly, despite the potential loss of a significant team member and mate.
"He's very personable, he's got a great personality and he's a bit of a prankster with a great sense of humour.
"But at the same time, he can be really strong and have the hard conversations, but do it in a way that's not offensive.
"We love working together, and we're good friends, and you should look after your friends."
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