Updated July 20, 2026 – 4:13 p.m.,first published 10:54 am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO The first time Tassie Devils chief executive Brendon Gale saw the possibilities Ken Hinkley had as a coach was back in 2009, when he was
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The first time Tassie Devils chief executive Brendon Gale saw the possibilities Ken Hinkley had as a coach was back in 2009, when he was the new Tigers boss and Hinkley was competing with Damien Hardwick for the vacant coaching position at Richmond.
Hinkley, then a Geelong assistant, arrived at the home of Tigers board member Maurice O’Shannassy to make a final proposal for the job.
Impressed by the size of the room he had entered, Hinkley put everyone at ease when he exclaimed, “Damn big room, Maurice.”
He then roared home with a brilliant performance in which Hardwick outranked him for the job.
Gale watched and admired what Hinkley built at Port Adelaide when he got his chance as a senior coach after a season at the emerging Gold Coast club. On the Suns, Hinkley became the glue that gave many of the new recruits hope that he would be worth being on the expansion team.
About 18 months ago, Gale again had reason to consider teaming up with Hinkley as a senior coach. As he and all the other football players descended on Adelaide for the Meeting Round, he popped over to 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, had the right 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 home for a general chat about what a newly formed club might need both in personnel and attitude. It was informal. If anything, Hinkley might have been considered at the time as a logical person to become the Devils’ football coach, 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 football and what a team in Tasmania could represent.
There was plenty of time to choose a coach, and the plan at the time was to first appoint a head of development and a football coach.
And Gale was still crystallizing in his mind what kind of person would best represent and build the club.
I knew that the first coach had to have experience. This was not a job for someone with L-plates.
The coach also had to be able to participate in election campaigns in Tasmania to unite the community with the Devils. And the manager needed to create a club culture that attracted and retained players and staff, listening, supporting and inspiring young and old alike.
There were all sorts of names floating around in the crowd, including Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan, who, as a former Tasmanian, was an obvious prospect. However, he had dragged the Lions from the bottom up. Fagan would help the Devils in any way he could, but pretending he was desperate to start climbing another football Everest at age 60 would be crazy.
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was an impressive character who was eager to explore the opportunity. John Longmire has suddenly ended his stay in Sydney to relax in Swans management. Current coaches were also considered. Then someone on the Devils said Hinkley should consider becoming a coach instead of director of football.
Hinkley admitted that was really where his heart was, telling Gale, “I’m a football coach. That’s what I know. I don’t know much else, I just know what a football coach does and how he behaves.”
His work on Fox Footy and SEN in his first season away from the club was impressive. He was relaxed but informative and his love for his former players at Port Adelaide, and her love for him, was also obvious. The same story could be told of those he coached and kept in touch with from Geelong and the Gold Coast.
It is not a trail that many coaches leave.
The club decided on three candidates: Buckley, Longmire and Hinkley. They created a coaching panel that included Gale, chairman Grant O’Brien, director of football Alastair Lynch and strategy and personnel manager Lauren Jauncey.
And they began to do the work with an urgency that they kept well hidden. Buckley introduced, having had many conversations with Gale, who delved into the traits of the Geelong assistant coach. Longmire then met with the team in Sydney and asked as many questions as he answered.
Of the three, only the Sydney coach had a premiership next to his name, but the first five years would be more than just filling the trophy cabinet.
Hinkley was last, and the coaching panel traveled to meet with him, where he presented the three Cs that form the basis of how he views himself as a coach: “character, caring and connection.”
He spoke of the importance of development and drew on his experience on the fledgling Gold Coast to emphasize the challenges ahead. The club also wanted to be convinced that the fire was still in their belly to win a premiership. They quickly realized that was the case.
Hinkley wanted to believe that the Tassie Devils management understood that a build would be difficult but could also be fun. Once he was convinced the club was on the same page as him, he pursued the job as hard as any of the jobs he had pursued in the past.
By the weekend, things began to move quickly and Gale invited Hinkley to present again.
This time the presentation would take place in Hobart. If all went well, the selection panel would be ready to recommend Hinkley to the board.
Before dawn on Sunday, the 59-year-old was preparing to take a Virgin flight to the Tasmanian capital and news of his trip was beginning to emerge. At Melbourne airport he bumped into the club’s marketing director, Kath McCann, who was returning from Queensland.
He traveled light because he was still not sure he would get 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 wowed Richmond 17 years earlier.
The meeting delved into granular details like what would be prioritized, what the program would look like, how I would lead, how I would bring the team and the club together.
After a brief period of reflection, the board of directors entered the conversation.
On Sunday afternoon, around 2:30 pm, the decision was made to offer Hinkley a five-year contract, which will officially begin on November 1. 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’s a real sincerity and a real directness that Tasmanians will really respond to,” Gale said.
At 11am on Monday, Hinkley stood alongside O’Brien and Gale at Hobart Botanic Gardens and was officially introduced as a trainer.
He was talking about chasing players, about the importance of appointing the right football coach and head of development.
He was candid in saying he hoped that once he and his wife, Donna, moved to Hobart, there was a chance his children and grandchildren would follow. I was looking forward to exploring Tasmania to talk football with people from all walks of life. It provided for training camps in various parts of the state.
He envisioned a full stadium with the Devils playing indoors at Macquarie Point Stadium four years into his tenure.
“I’m a coach and when I have the opportunity to coach young people, in particular, it’s something I thrive on,” Hinkley said. “As much as we are a newly created club, we are a football state.”
And he wasted no time and set out to win the position of prime minister.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we were going to win,” Hinkley said.
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