Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley slams 'embarrassing' score review after Showdown loss

Tom Naghten

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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley slams 'embarrassing' score review after Showdown loss image

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has launched a scathing attack on the AFL's score review system after his side went down to Adelaide in controversial circumstances in Showdown 44.

The Crows ran out three-point winners after Josh Jenkins kicked a goal in the dying minutes to put his side in the lead.

Jenkins' snap appeared to travel awfully close to the left goal post, with a score review being required to make the decision.

The goal umpire called it a goal, with a very quick review determining that there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call.

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Further looks at the vision, and Jenkins' post-match admission that he thought it hit the post, seemed to suggest the Power were hard done by, and Hinkley agreed.

"Let me be really clear right from the start, Adelaide deserved to win, they were the better team in a really close game," Hinkley told reporters.

"But to deal with that last moment, where the player acknowledges it's hit the post and the AFL, in a billion-dollar industry, can wreck seasons for football clubs.

"If I was the AFL, I'd be embarrassed and disappointed in an industry that's so important to so many people.

"(The AFL) will come out and say they got it wrong, but the technology should have changed that.

"The technology should have made sure this monumental mistake in a football season shouldn't have appeared."

The loss sees Port Adelaide slip out of the top four, and in a season as tight as this, leaves their finals position anything but assured.

"The score review is there to make sure this doesn't happen, and it continues to fail," Hinkley said.

"Someone should be accountable for that because I'm accountable for winning and losing.

"It was a great game of footy, but a major failure by the AFL tonight."

The AFL released the following statement after the match, stating that there was no clear evidence to overturn the decision.


 

Tom Naghten

Tom Naghten Photo

Tom Naghten is a senior editor at The Sporting News Australia where he's been part of the team since 2017. He predominantly covers boxing and MMA. In his spare time, he likes to watch Robbie Ahmat's goal against the Kangaroos at the SCG in 2000.