Mortlake senior coach (1996–1998) Retiring after the
1995 AFL Grand Final, Hinkley joined
Hampden Football League club Mortlake as coach, where he remained for three seasons.
Camperdown senior coach (1999–2000) Hinkley returned to Camperdown and coached the club to back-to-back premierships in 1999 and 2000, the former as captain-coach.
St Kilda assistant coach (2001) St Kilda acquired his services as an assistant coach in 2001 under senior coaches
Malcolm Blight and
Grant Thomas, but he left the club after one season.
Bell Park senior coach (2002–2003) The year after leaving St Kilda he took up the role of senior coach of
Bell Park in the
Geelong Football League and oversaw a premiership in 2003.
Geelong assistant coach (2004–2009) He resumed his AFL coaching career in 2004, as an assistant coach under senior coach
Mark Thompson at Geelong, and was part of the coaching group in their
2007 and
2009 AFL premierships. Hinkley left Geelong at the end of the 2009 season.
Gold Coast assistant coach (2011–2012) At the end of the 2009 season, Hinkley was announced as an assistant coach at the new
Gold Coast Football Club under senior coach
Guy McKenna. Hinkley served as assistant coach for the Suns in their inaugural season in the
2011 season and the
2012 season. during this period, Hinkley also interviewed for the
Richmond, Geelong and St Kilda senior coach positions but was unsuccessful.
Port Adelaide senior coach (2013–2025) On 8 October 2012, Hinkley was announced as the senior coach of Port Adelaide, making him the first coach to not have a prior association with the club since
Fos Williams. Hinkley replaced Port Adelaide caretaker senior coach
Garry Hocking, who replaced
Matthew Primus, after Primus was sacked during the 2012 season. In his debut season, Hinkley led Port to 13 wins, which included an elimination final win at the
MCG against
Collingwood before being eliminated by Geelong in a close game a week later. This came to a surprise to many as Port Adelaide had only won eight games in the previous two seasons combined. For his impressive season, Hinkley was voted as the Coach of the Year by the AFL Coaches Association. A year later, despite predictions by many that Port Adelaide would miss the finals, Hinkley led the club to a preliminary final finish; having finished the minor rounds in fifth place on the ladder, the Power defeated and in their first two finals before losing to eventual premiers . The Power narrowly missed out on qualifying for finals in 2015 and 2016, though returned to the post-season playoffs in 2017, only to be defeated in a home elimination final against the
West Coast Eagles following a kick after the siren in extra-time. It was during this season that Hinkley's contract with Port Adelaide was extended to the end of 2021. In 2018 and 2019 the club again missed the finals, despite recording 50% or higher win-loss records in both years. Hinkley's side bolted up the ladder in the
COVID-19 affected 2020 season, recording its fourth AFL
minor premiership. The club qualified for a home preliminary final though were defeated by reigning premiers in a tight contest at Adelaide Oval. Hinkley signed a contract extension until the end of 2023. In 2021 Port Adelaide finished second on the ladder and again reached a home preliminary final, though on this occasion they were comprehensively beaten by the . The following year the club slipped out of the top eight, heaping pressure on Hinkley ahead of his final contracted season in 2023. Despite the pressure, club officials extended Hinkley's contract to the end of the 2025 season in mid-2023, shortly after the team locked in a top four spot and a return to finals. Port were knocked out of the finals series after consecutive losses to Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney. They became the 11th team since 2000 to bow out of a finals series in straight sets. Hinkley's position came under further scrutiny in 2024 following a heavy mid-season loss to Brisbane, though the club rebounded to again qualify in the top four, which culminated in a fourth preliminary final defeat, this time to Sydney. In February 2025, ahead of the final year of his contract, club chairman
David Koch announced that Hinkley's tenure as coach would conclude at the end of the
2025 season, and that his position would be filled by assistant coach
Josh Carr in 2026. Hinkley's final season was marked by indifferent form, as the side suffered from five defeats in excess of 70 points and finished with a 9-14 win-loss record, the worst in his thirteen seasons in the position. In his final game as coach, the team held on for a narrow four-point victory against finals contenders , with Hinkley's retirement coinciding with the club's games-record holder and former captain
Travis Boak. Port Adelaide finished the season in 13th position. Hinkley is the longest-serving coach of any AFL club to not qualify for a
Grand Final. Nevertheless his tenure ended as Port Adelaide's longest-serving coach in the club's AFL history, with a win-loss percentage higher than any of his predecessors in the competition. ==Personal life==