Under-fire Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has fumed after a note reading “sack Hinkley” was stuck on a sign outside the club’s headquarters in Alberton.
Pressure is mounting on Hinkley, who is in his 10th season at the Power and is yet to win a premiership while at the helm, with his side currently languishing in 11th spot on the ladder.
Despite initially claiming he’d not seen the sign and was not worried about it, the 55-year-old then teed off just seconds later.
READ MORE: NRLW star’s fury at Manly player boycott
READ MORE: Boycotting Manly players told to stay away
READ MORE: Maria Folau rips ‘hypocrisy’ of NRL’s pride stance
“I think it’s a really poor thing to do, a really weak thing to do,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“I move on with my day and move on with my week and I’ll prepare my team as best as I possibly can. Every football club has great passion, but there’s a line.”
Despite the external pressure on his role, Hinkley claimed that it was not impacting his playing group.
“I don’t think it affects us inside,” he said.
“Being a football club that’s not winning as much as they should, I don’t think that ever changes. That’s the environment we work in, we all accept that and we all know that when we sign on.
“That’s not an issue for us. We turn up with a really mature attitude about what we have to do and understand that no matter how long we’re in the game will we please everyone.”
Hinkley said he was yet to have talks with Port’s powerbrokers on his future, citing his contract for next season being a reason why discussions were not yet necessary.
“At the moment we are all on the same page here. There’s not one little bit of divide in what we’re trying to achieve,” he said.
“I put pressure on myself in year one. Is there a timeline that you stop putting expectations on yourself?
“Once I stop and the team stops having an expectation of high-level performance, we should all walk away regardless of what the situation is. I don’t feel like the team or myself or anyone else at the football club feels like that.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!