Geelong coach Chris Scott drew attention to the AFL over the Ken Hinkley drama, which saw the Port Adelaide coach fined $20,000 for a post-match altercation with Hawthorn players Jack Ginnivan and James Siciliy. Experienced Power coach decided to criticize Ginnivan after his side’s semi-final victory over the Hawks, which sparked a bitter tussle with the Hawthorn captain, Sicily, and landed the experienced mentor in hot water.

The ugly scenes after the match overshadowed the Powers’ thrilling victory, but it was also a fascinating spectacle that sparked debate around the world. AFL world. Hinkley’s actions were condemned by celebrities such as Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis and Dermott Brereton and Coach Power accepts $20,000 fine from AFL this week for unbecoming conduct.

Weighing in on the saga and referring to the AFL’s fine for Hinkley, Geelong coach Scott pressed the league not to use it to promote the code in the future, but admitted he didn’t think that would be the case. “If the game looks bad, it should never be promoted again and the AFL should distance themselves from it. “But I don’t think they will,” Scott told Channel Seven’s Talking Footy.

Pressed further on whether he thinks the AFL will use the racy encounter as a promotional tool for Port’s next match with Hawthorn – Scott made his feelings clear. “They’ll use it to reinforce the rivalry that could be developing between those two teams,” the Geelong coach added. “But I also accept that things that start off as friendly banter can escalate quite quickly.

“And the AFL is a bit of a strange organisation because they don’t run the elite level, they run the football at all levels. So they have a responsibility to make sure that things don’t escalate at the lower levels, but the chances of that escalating – knowing the people we know in the game – are zero.”

Ken Hinkley won’t let the saga distract from the Swans pre-match

Hinkley regretted his actions and accepted a $20,000 AFL fine this week, despite many critics criticising the fact his sanction was the same one coach Alastair Clarkson received for using homophobic slurs on an opposing player. Hinkley was quick to deny suggestions the drama was a distraction for his team in the run-up to Friday night’s preliminary final against the Sydney Swans at the SCG.

“Everything that happened was sorted out by Sunday night,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We’ve moved on. We’ve got a play-in final to play and I don’t have anything more to say because I’m not going to let any of that become an issue for us. We’ll just get on with preparing for Sydney.”

The Power go into the qualifiers against the Swans having won their last eight matches against John Longmire’s side, including a 112-point demolition of weakened Sydney in Round 22. In fact, the Power last lost to the Swans at the SCG in Round 20, back in 2016, but Hinkley says his side’s impressive performance will have little significance on Friday night.

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“It’s one of those things that happens in football over a period of time, those runs … all those things happen in different phases,” Hinkley said. “Both teams understand that it has absolutely nothing to do with what happens on Friday night.” Hinkley said fullback Ryan Burton (calf) will be selected if he wins his fitness battle and suggested that Charlie Dixon could be reinstated in favor of Todd Marshall (concussion) if he recovers from his illness in time.

from AAP