Geelong’s football manager Neil Balme says the Cats are very fond of Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.

An assistant coach at Geelong from 2004 to 2009, Hinkley is also a former club champion and two-time All-Australian with the Cats, playing in the 1992, 1994 and 1995 losing grand final sides.

The ex-Gold Coast assistant is regarded by some media commentators as the AFL coach of the year, having guided Port in his first season in charge from 14th to a semi-final.

Hinkley is determined to make sure the Power’s rise doesn’t end on Friday night at the MCG in their knockout semi-final against the Cats and Balme says no one at Simonds Stadium is too surprised to see Hinkley having success as a senior coach.

“We’re very fond of Ken but we hope he doesn’t have much of a Friday,” Balme said.

“He was a fantastic player here and a very good coach and he’s a good friend of the club. We’re very pleased he’s doing well.

“When you look at how Port struggled last year, it probably is surprising.

“But we were very confident that he’d do a very good job.

“He understands footy well. He understands people well.

“He gets on with people pretty well. The players would really like him for that and he understands what they go through.

“He’s pretty good at dealing with different sorts of people. That’s probably his strength.”

The Cats are chasing a 10th consecutive win over Port but Hinkley isn’t bothered by the stats.

“Everyone thinks we’re probably less likely to win again this week, but that doesn’t worry us. That is perception,” he said.

“We know that if our best football is there and we can apply pressure defensively, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”