It was about disrespect to Breust and not what Ken said. Don't give a toss what he said but I do about the time he did to show RESPECT for the moment. He showed no EQ when he had plenty of opportunities later at his press conference.

I am sure Max Gawn would stand up for his teammates as he has had to endure all year including Oliver.

Seems to you that anything goes when Breust, a champion of 300 games is carried off the ground. Probably struggle with what it means because Melbourne the oldest club only has two of them. Neither won premierships either.

John Longmire and Tom Papley are just giggling in the background waiting to trounce Port.

Titus must've been relieved on Friday night when #hawkball was ended for the 2024 season...and then amused when the Hinkley-Ginnivan-Sicily-Mitchell lulz started up.

I know I was.

Brilliant, as always, sir! Sicily has always been an A-grade flog - this event just reminded everyone. AFL gestapo need to remember, banter = good, physical violence = bad. The end. My only concern, and I haven't heard others mention this either, is: you failed to mention that both finals were determined by some rubbish umpiring decisions. The well-worn path (that is fixable) of: deliberate out of bounds, head-ground contacts in tackles and the new wave of cheating that is attached, ducking into tackles, and player dissent. We all want to watch predictable umpiring.

I can see it all now, the trajectory Jack Ginnivan's career will take.

He'll become better known for his off-the-field activities than his performances on match days. He'll be a marked man, and opposition defenders will be onto him like Chief Wiggum onto a pile of doughnuts. Opposition fans will hurl unusual amounts of abuse at him.

Time will pass. He'll become more trouble than he's worth and he'll gradually fade from view.

In years to come an occasional fan may ask his drinking mates, "Do you remember that Hawthorn player whose name started with G, and that rhymed with T, and that stood for Trouble? What was his name again? Gilligan? Something like that".

All the talk over the brouhaha regarding a coach trying to be Oscar Wilde has overshadowed the disgraceful "insufficient intent" decision to give Joe his first goal in the last quarter. the GWS Blackman was pushed as he tapped the ball and yet the umpire ran in , made it all about himself and paid the free. Not one commentator had a problem with it. This is insidious and we re ll sheep - its like self serve check outs at supermarkets
Regards - Old Man shaking his fist at the clouds

Really don't care what Hinkley said to Ginnivan , though I thought it was childish, but I am astonished that, in a game where Port were playing for their season and finals credibility and Hinkley was pretty much coaching for his career, how did they need a minor player from the other team saying they would win as motivation?? Isn't every player from both teams supposed to have a winning mindset? And doesn't pretty much every theme song pronounce that they will beat all-comers and win the premiership?

Yep/ spot on again Titus.

Scintillating football and some other stuff.

Don’t give out behaviour that you wouldn’t want ‘handed back to you.’
Never great when you ‘cry victim’ and pure dross when you fire off the social post. A bit rich coming from Mt. Wav.

Lions putting on the ‘comeback to own all comebacks’ for the near future…amazing.

Juicy prospects to come over the next two sets of seven.
My team @ Barkly Street decommissioned for another season, I’m banking Power -v- Lions.
Popcorn joy🍿🍿

Re Port v Hoks - Exactly. Ginnivan mouthed off, Sicily missed and Hinkley didn't.
Hinkley's comment was neither malicious nor nasty. He was smirking when he lifted his wings to Ginnivan. As for the Sicilian "standing up" for his team, if Hinkley was supposed to be old enough to know better, the same could be said of Sicily, who was clearly having a moment of self-flagellation after hitting the post. It was Sicily's reaction, and Hawthorn's defeat, that "spoiled" Breust's moment, not Hinkley's comment.
On TV, we had the anti-social past players Hodge, Lewis and Burgoyne all self-righteously clutching their pearls and moralising about standards. Had any team other than the Hoks been involved, they would have laughed it off.
Sam Mitchell's sanctimony was hypocrisy made manifest from a bloke who needled the Bombers.
The Hoks' problem was they were beaten after deluding themselves that Hokball was the sure path to the flag. The Hoks were drunk on their own bathwater, flavoured with all the media hyperbole about them. Collingwood sacked Ginnivan for failing to read the room and he's clearly still illiterate.
Speaking of hyperbole, the ABC on Saturday radio news was describing Hinkley's comments as a "tirade", confirming the collapse in the credibility of its reporting.
As for the AFL, perhaps it might pay a bit more attention to its boundary umpires' not noticing when the ball is out of bounds. Last week was just the latest example of a season-long failing. Also of note was that five of the Hoks' first seven goals came from free kicks.

Well we can only hope that some of the Sydney players diss us online this week.
Seems to work really well.

One of your finest pieces ever! Agree with every word. The umpiring both on and off the field is at an all time low. The AFL should give itself an overly harsh sanction/penalty for bringing the game into disrepute.

Ken for PM!!!

Very controversial this week, Titus, but agree with everything you said. More or less.

But the Hinkley thing is a bit complex. And I have complete faith in The AFL correctly adjudicating. Mick Malthouse also criticised Hinkley by saying if you win, say nothing. Mick did approach an opposition huddle at 1/4 time in 2010 and said something very, very bad to an opposition player. But that was different as the game wasn't won yet.

"It was all so predictable" It's mind bending to realise that something that is impossible to happen is also completely predictable. GWS should also have listened to Guru Bob: "The game is never over until it's over. Remember the statement from the physicians who examined the victims of the 14th century bubonic plague: beware, they can still get up if they're good enough."

Sublime, Titus. Especially "they never gave up on the dream of losing, and they did it by giving up". There's something in that for everyone.

I hear ya, MARK SMITH. Look at the replay. It was the boundary umpire that motioned to the field umpire that it was "lack of intent". Disgraceful. A GWS supporter approached me this morning at work, knowing I was a StK fan. He asked how do you deal with such mind-numbing defeats? I told him to embrace the pain and misery, then move on very quickly. To the next disappointment.

After round 4 when Hawthorn were 0-5, I put $10 on them to win the GF. Just for a laugh. The payout would have been $billions. I was pretty upset with Sicily. I asked ChatGPT: Please answer yes or no: should Sicily have kicked the goal against Port Adelaide? The answer was YES. I am considering compensation from Sicily through the courts. ChatGPT knows even better than The AFL.

Hi Titus. Are you bringing your show to the centre of the known universe. Adelaide?

Port were the slightly better team in a cracking-paced game.

Early on the umps gave Port all the free kicks they wanted as the umps were appalling.
Soon after they gave the Hawks all the free kicks they wanted and the Hawks kicked goals. The umps were appalling.

Players 10/10. Umps 5/10.
Ken - not a good look and an overreaction to a fairly benign tweet.

It’s enough to make a bloke give up footy. Titus nails it. AFL umpires deciding by committee? This is as bad as its been, EVER! And what is the identifiable difference? First, a sheila running the AFL football department, and second a victim of Xavier's pedophile priests in charge of the whole debacle – I’m guessing he must have played 280 games for the Old Xavs because he loved the after the game shower experience!

Did someone tell Ken what social media was?
Ginni said that he'd be at the SCG this Friday, so I expect to see him in the rooms after the game congratulating Brodie, while wearing a Swans scarf.

As far as the Hinkley thing goes there's a major difference between players doing things during the match and the head coach doing it after the match

and in all honesty if Hinkley was that affected by a player joking with a mate on social media he needs to get out of the job because he's cruising for a heart attack

and you'll find there was a lot of criticism of Clarkson for many of his outbursts

I cannot stand the Hawks Titus but that’s your worst call in an awful long time. You must dislike them even more than myself clearly but you’re a Demon fan so I get that. Hinkley’s hubris and antics were just plain embarrassing and indeed pathetic for a 60 year old man. His players are supposed to see him as a role model? He’s clearly lost the plot and unravelled under the pressure. Soon, thankfully he’ll be gone. A lot of kids look at that and you’re defending it. Not good enough.

Well said Titus. Hinkley was understandably emotional. He’s had a rough year. It was a great performance by his team.

It was Sicily who escalated the situation. All he had to do was walk up to Hinkley, shake his hand and wish him luck against the Swans. Hinkley would have backed down and shaken his hand, and all the commentators, even the Hawks curmudgeons, would have praised Sicily for his sportsmanship. And Breust would’ve got his proper well deserved sendoff. Instead Sicily chose to up the aggression and off we went on some stupid down the rabbit hole self-righteous blame game. It was as much Sicily‘s fault as Hinkley’s. As for Mitchell, crocodile tears ended a great season and took the gloss off an excellent game.

Really Titus ? 6 inches to the right and Ken’s much vaunted game plan was for nought and his career was over. I thought relief would have been a better reaction than something you’d expect from a bogan parent at an under 12s game.

Titus, really defending a tosser. Hinkley crying after a match, Hinkley should be sacked says his supports after a thrashing , Hinkley gloating after a win showing his maturity and now his supporters want to pay his fine

You forgot Yogi Berra's "It ain't over till it's over" quite apt for the GW

That moral high horse wobbled on it's one good leg and came crashing down. Sheer bloody hubris by the Squawks!

Thank god all that fairytale hok-ball nonsense is over with and we can get back to the real business of finals footy!

You're off target regarding Hinkley. He was entirely justified in giving Ginnivan some lip, but the timing was so inappropriate. The golden rule in any sport is that you don't slag off at the other team when you've just beaten them. And especially when all players are gathering to honour the milestone game of a highly respected player. Hinkley should have waited until his press conference to deliver a cheeky thank you to Ginnivan for providing some extra motivation. I think he knows that too.

The Poos and Wees were beaten at their own game and really didn’t like it. 20K for a bit of cheek and mimicking an aeroplane is setting a new standard of ludicrousness for the AFL.

I would have imposed the $20,000 fine on each of the umpires at both games. Too many mind-boggling confusing ridiculous silly game-changing free kicks to count. Plus that way the AFL would have raised extra money which they could use to train and employ some decent umpires.

Great report Titus. You hit the nail on the head. It’s clear who are the Hawks supporters and who are not. Fact is , a public comment put was out there by Ginnivan - which may have been a bit of fun but it was arrogant all the same, hawthorn supported it, and thought it was all good fun until it came back to bite them. Serial bully boy Sicily just reinforced what a hothead he is. He was the one who carried on, and it was he who kept it going. How anyone can say “you’re not flying Jack” is abuse, you need to perhaps drink a cup of cement & harden up. Again none of this would’ve occurred had Ginnivan not posted that smart arse comment in the first place and that seems to be getting lost in the rhetoric . It doesn’t register to some that Hinkley’s been under incredible pressure from not only the media, but armchair expert Port supporters in the last couple of years. He could’ve said a hell of a lot worse than “you’re not flying anywhere Jack”. The Hawks have been an amazing young team, but their cockiness was starting to grate and they & their supporters were of the belief all they had to do was turn up and they’d win. The irony of the whinging of Lewis, Burgoyne and of all People Hodge & Brereton was breathtakingly hypocritical. But not surprising considering they were all from Hawthorn. As for the fine, the AFL,have lost the plot.

O'Reily, O'Reily, I thought you were about to blow a rectal valve! Do hope you didn't miss the guilt reflected on the Wizard's face ... Ginny had just asked him to make it all disappear!!

It's a wonder that the Port supporters didn't throw their dentures at Sicily.

Sicily might have the last laugh, though, as the home of the Cosa Nostra.

I've always enjoyed your round ups but you went on a rant this time. Do you really hate the Hawks this much?! I think they've been entertaining and it's inspirational with what they've achieved. Ginnivan sent a comment to a mate as banter, some journalist without a story trawled through socials and found a comment from a 20 yo he could blow up into something and make it out to be disrespecting PA. Really? And then a coach after a game which they won, decides it's all well and good to humilate a team that just had their dreams crushed. In front of a massive TV audience which he knew would be watching so it looks like Hinkley is a big hero now?? Not in my book. My opinion of PAFC coach and players has just changed dramatically. Have a crack later on in press conferences etc but not on the field. THAT is disrespectful. And also against AFL rules. And that is my rant.

Very well said Titus. I hate that kind of behaviour as well. It's like the bully and pest in Grade Four who has a go at everyone, and as soon as somebody stands up to him, he runs to the teacher, "Miss, Miss".

Titus that was poor...I thought you find some fun in the whole Hinkley thing. You did not....you just got sucked into preaching and high morals as much as everyone else. Sad to read your words today...have a laugh mate!!

Yeah let's pile on a 20 year old, making a tongue in cheek comment to an ex-teammate, picked up by media hounds looking to blow something, anything up, all the while letting a elder statesman of the game, blame an unnecessary outburst on his club being disrespected by said 20 year old. Hmmm, maybe the club did that all by themselves by being absolutely flogged in a home final the week before. Port won, wasn't that the ultimate payback? No words were needed. Poor form by Ken Hinkley!

Kicking a team when they are down? Glad Hinkley was fined.

Frank, you are an absolute flog!
Fifth Umpire, you nailed it with your comment “ I thought relief would have been a better reaction than something you’d expect from a bogan parent at an under 12s game.”
And BTW, none of the gutless press (except for Nathan Buckley) highlighted the fact that Hinkley started his taunt with “Jack, you f**king idiot”…would’ve got a reaction from me if I was his teammate!

Big confession there Titus - a year 10 formal indeed. What pretentious crap to have to suffer through, especially as you wouldn't have had a date. I wouldn't have attended in the first place, even if it was free admission, free grog and the chance of a quickie behind the bike shed

So you’re saying it wasn’t a bad look - that you think any coach at any level should “address” players of the other team post game about something that didn’t happen on the field at all?

Let’s leave aside we don’t actually know what was said and how it was said unless some mic footage has been dropped but you think that’s good leadership for a coach to pull the focus from his teams victory because he was hurt by a throwaway on socials?

Titus' obsessive hatrred of Hawthorn left him ranting to the point where he lost completely his sense of humour.
Who the f do you think you arre Titus? Kane Cornes ?

Titus you sure raised the hackles of some born again obscurantist sect members. Who until recently have been wandering bereft amongst the Middle East suburban wilderness. Trying to learn some humility and humbleness after a dramatic fall of empire some time back. Yes some have sought refuge in the media, popping up amongst the flotsam and jetsam as pious choirboys with some confected moral outrage. Others remain strangely evangelical with the diminished mothership. Butter wouldn’t in their mouths. Like a costume change at a cheap provincial pantomime, still philistines and blackards beneath. Thanks… Don (Scott)