Arabic version: روث يحث هينكلي على التواصل في أنحاء تسمانيا

According to ABC News, JackJumpers coach Scott Roth has urged incoming Tasmania Devils AFL coach Ken Hinkley to travel widely, meet locals and understand what the state means to its people. Hinkley will begin a five-year term in November, running through to the end of the 2031 season, before the Devils enter the AFL in 2028.

Roth, who arrived from Ohio in 2021 to coach the JackJumpers in their first NBL season, said visibility was important in Tasmania. “This state is big and people want to see you,” he said, encouraging Hinkley to be seen in coffee shops, petrol stations and supermarkets. Roth said his own travel around the state had helped earn the trust of Tasmanians.

He said Hinkley, known as “Camperdown Ken” and from country Victoria, could be readily identified with by Tasmanians. Roth advised that success required “checking your ego at the door”, describing the state as a working-class environment where people preferred normality over “flash and dash”. Roth said several prospective Devils coaching candidates had contacted him while seeking insight into the Tasmanian community.

Hinkley will help oversee the creation of the Devils’ playing list and the selection of key support staff. Roth said the club should recruit workers with humility and high character, arguing that this approach reflected the image in which the JackJumpers had built their teams. He said the new AFL club needed players suited to a working-class state.

The appointment has drawn backing from across football. Melbourne captain Max Gawn said he would “definitely” play for Hinkley and that the Devils had “nailed it”. Former player Kane Cornes said Hinkley made people feel they wanted to “run through a brick wall for him”, while Tasmanian footballer Royce Hart called him the best-qualified candidate and said he was suited to Tasmania.