Port coach Hinkley unfazed by controversial AFL fine

Steve Larkin |

Port coach Ken Hinkley says his AFL fine hasn’t been a distraction ahead of their preliminary final.
Port coach Ken Hinkley says his AFL fine hasn’t been a distraction ahead of their preliminary final.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley insists he hasn’t been distracted by his controversial $20,000 AFL fine as he flags two key changes to his preliminary final team to face Sydney.

Hinkley copped the fine for conduct unbecoming after he taunted Hawthorn players following Port’s three-point semi-final win.

Asked if the fallout and fine had been a distraction in the lead-up to Friday night’s SCG preliminary final, Hinkley replied: “No.”

“Everything that happened got taken care of by Sunday night,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“We moved on. We have got a prelim final to play and I’ve got no more to add to it because I’m not going to let any of that become any issue for us.

“We’re just going to move into our preparation for Sydney.”

Key forward Charlie Dixon and half-back Ryan Burton, pending fitness tests on Thursday at Port’s training session at the SCG, will play in the preliminary final.

Dixon was a late withdrawal from the semi-final, while Burton was ruled out on the eve of the match because of a calf complaint.

“He (Dixon) was going to play in a semi-final last week other than being ill, so we’re optimistic that he’ll be available to play,” Hinkley said.

“We’re optimistic that Burton will also be available to play.

“Ryan’s form the previous three weeks, if he wasn’t in our best two or three players, he was in our best four – if he’s fit, he will be playing.

“But we don’t announce the team until tomorrow night … so there’s lots of things still to tick off.”

The Power, who will be without Todd Marshall after he suffered a fifth concussion in the past three years in the game against Hawthorn, enter the clash with a stunning recent record against the Swans.

Port have beaten Sydney in their past eight meetings, including three at the SCG.

“It’s one of the things that happen in footy over a period of time, these runs … all these things happen in different phases,” Hinkley said.

“Both teams understand it has got absolutely nothing to do with what is going to happen on Friday night.”

In their last encounter on August 3, the Power hammered the Swans by 112 points at Adelaide Oval.

“We have been involved with two of those games in the opposite,” Hinkley said, referring to Port’s 79-point loss to Brisbane on June 22 and their 84-point defeat to Geelong in the qualifying final.

“And we know that sometimes it just gets away, but it doesn’t stop you turning up at your next performance, knowing that … you have got to be ready.”

AAP