sport
Tasmania Devils name Ken Hinkley as inaugural AFL coach for 2028
Former Port Adelaide coach will prepare club for 2028 entry after presentations to chief executive and board
How we reported this
Ken Hinkley will be announced as Tasmania’s inaugural AFL coach less than 12 months after being moved on from Port Adelaide. The 59-year-old presented to the club’s chief executive Brendon Gale and Tasmania’s board on Sunday and will be officially announced at a press conference in Hobart on Monday morning.
Tasmania’s social media accounts teased the announcement on Sunday evening. Hinkley won the role over former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and ex-Sydney boss John Longmire, who both expressed interest in the job.
Longmire met with the Devils a fortnight ago in what he described as a fact-finding mission. Buckley was favoured for the job last year when he pulled out of the race to find Melbourne’s coach.
Hinkley coached Port from 2013 to 2025, instantly taking them to the finals after a dismal five seasons following the club’s humiliating and record-breaking grand final loss in 2007. He reached three preliminary finals but did not contest a grand final.
Hinkley recorded 174 victories from 297 games for a 58.6 per cent winning record. He was named coach of the year twice in 2013 and 2020 but stepped aside when assistant Josh Carr wanted the Port job.
Playing 132 games for Fitzroy and Geelong between 1987 and 1995, Hinkley spent time as an assistant at Geelong and Gold Coast as well as a year at St Kilda in 2001 before winning the Port role as a 46-year-old. After leaving Port at the end of the 2025 season, Hinkley has spent this year in the media working for Fox Footy and SEN.