Why Caro changed her mind on Hinkley handover; King tells Clarko, ‘don’t treat us as fools’

“This is effectively a VFL team with three or four stars tacked on. Guys like (Tom) McCartin, (James) Rowbottom, (Isaac) Heeney and Chad Warner. They won with less, the Sydney Swans.

“I think the messaging from the Kangaroos has got to be honest and clear. They (the fans) will still turn up, the faithful are passionate, but don’t lie to them. Don’t treat them like fools because if they turn it will get real ugly.”

After an encouraging loss to the Western Bulldogs and a win over Melbourne, the Kangaroos have crashed against Adelaide and now the Swans.

“To their credit, they’re a very good side,” Clarkson, a four-time premiership coach of Hawthorn, said of the Swans, this year under new coach Dean Cox. “They made a grand final last year, and were the best side really for the bulk of the year. They’ve been a very good side for a reason.”

After four matches, the Kangaroos have major issues to address, including that they rank 14th for contested possession, and 16th for inside 50s. However, Clarkson said the Kangaroos “have made progress as a footy club” and are “on the right path”.

King was unconvinced. “I just think you’ve got to be careful with your messaging. To suggest that we played the all-conquering grand final team of last year is not right. That’s just having a lend of us,” he said.

“I just think it’s a really disappointing performance. They (the Swans) still scored (almost) 120 points and moved the ball at will. It was an uncompetitive performance from a defensive point of view, and still we’re yet to see any defensive stability.”

The Kangaroos face the unbeaten Gold Coast Suns in Adelaide this weekend. The club was contacted for comment.

Port’s poor form changes Wilson’s view on Hinkley handover

Claire Siracusa

Port Adelaide’s coaching succession plan has become disastrous and could be behind the team’s form slump to start season 2025.

That’s the view of Real Footy podcast panelist and Age columnist Caroline Wilson, who was initially “cautiously supportive” of the plan for Ken Hinkley to finish up as coach at the end of this season and hand the reins to assistant coach Josh Carr.

But she said the team’s form was proof the plan was not working.

“I think it’s looking disastrous now,” she told the Real Footy podcast. “You can only judge it on the on-field form and it’s been dreadful. Their form’s been dreadful.

“They were top four last year … they didn’t have a great finals series, they had that one good win over Hawthorn that was marred by what happened at the end of the game [when Hinkley taunted Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan]. But they’ve been terrible.”

The panel of Wilson, Jake Niall and Michael Gleeson discussed succession plans as a whole and the key to a successful plan.

“If it’s driven by the senior coach, and them appointing the person that’s going to come and work with them, that seems to be the occasions where it’s worked,” Gleeson said. “But when it’s almost foisted upon a senior coach … it never seems to end well.”

Wilson said the fact that Hinkley didn’t want to walk away from coaching was a problem.

“This has sort of been forced upon him. He’s accepted that his time there is up. But once that happens, maybe they should have just made the call.”

She said Carr and Hinkley had a great relationship, and Hinkley believed that Carr was “the next man”.

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“But he obviously doesn’t want to walk away,” she said. “Is it the reason they’re not performing? Who knows. It’s certainly not helping and it’s certainly not helping the way things are looking externally.”

Niall said the fact Port had lost experienced players had to be considered when looking at the team’s form.

“Port Adelaide’s team – let’s look at the actual team they’re fielding.

“[Todd] Marshall’s not playing, Charlie Dixon retired. I just look at them at both ends … I worry about them at both ends of the ground.”

Blues keeping the faith

Jon Pierik

Carlton vice-captain Sam Walsh and teammate George Hewett insists the Blues can rebound from a winless opening four rounds to play finals, but history shows it’s a narrow path to September.

Thirty-eight teams have started a season 0-4 since the turn of the century, but only two have recovered to make the finals, which means the Blues, and winless Melbourne for that matter, must overcome a major historical roadblock.

The two teams since 2000 to have regrouped from 0-4 to be alive come September are Sydney, who were 0-6 in 2017, and Hawthorn from 0-5 last year.

“Nothing changes,” said Hewett, who was at the Swans in 2017. “I’ve been in a team that’s zero and six and we just missed top four, things change quick. Get a win, get that feeling back and it’ll be right.”

The pressure on Carlton deepens this week ahead of the clash against fellow strugglers West Coast in Adelaide, the Blues hopeful Harry McKay and Elijah Hollands are ready to return to the senior side after strong performances in the VFL on Saturday night. McKay was at Ikon Park and trained on Monday morning.

Walsh said the Blues were not thinking about finals.

“The problem is, sometimes if you look so far ahead, then you are just going to start forcing it. You’re like: ‘We are not where we want to be’,” Walsh said before training on Monday.

“The reality is, we have got this week to try and win a game, then get our season rolling from there. And from there you just keep chipping away. If we get better each week, then I know we’ll have a good finished product at the end of it.

“There is still a lot of footy to be played. We are definitely not the only team to be in this position before. We know that we have got it in us.”

Club chief executive Brian Cook said on the eve of the season that he expected the Blues to challenge for the top four, but they now join winless Melbourne and the Eagles at the foot of the ladder. Both the Swans of 2017 and the Hawks of 2024 made semi-finals from their winless starts, while last year the Brisbane Lions won the flag from a similarly sluggish 0-3.

Walsh said the Blues continued to search for reasons behind their second-half woes.

They led at the main break against the Magpies last Thursday but, for the fourth-straight week, were unable to run out the game. They have conceded a combined 29 second-half goals across the opening month of the season, but managed only 10 of their own.

Walsh said it was “definitely not a fitness thing”, but kicking efficiency and too many players ploughing in to win the contested ball could be factors. The Blues take tremendous pride in winning the up-for-grabs ball.

“In the game, you can actually start to force it a bit more, and go away from what actually works, and playing to your strengths as a team,” Walsh said.

“Maybe that leads you to bite off things that you feel aren’t there, or we all try and collapse into the contest, and then it gives teams space on the outside, and it makes it look like you are not fit because you are chasing for four quarters.”

Walsh said the players continued to back coach Michael Voss and the overall game plan, amid a worrying 2-10 win-loss record since round 17 last year.

Voss delivered a “short, sharp critique” to the players after the loss to the Magpies, but did not seek immediate player feedback, as emotions were high.

“I feel like he assesses and sees the game really well and gives us a clear path forward. Now it’s up to us to keep on taking that accountability. At the end of the day, we are the ones out there,” Walsh said.

McKay has not played a senior game since round one because of personal issues, but returned through the VFL at Ikon Park on Saturday night when he booted two goals.

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“His whole game, he was looking very active, providing a lot of options, which is all you can do,” Walsh said.

“I feel like off the field he has been really well-supported by the club. He has been thankful for all the support he has got. When he is ready to go, it will be good to see him out there.”

The 2021 Coleman medallist would add potency to a forward line that continues to struggle, having failed to pass 75 points this season.