Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has chided his new assistant Chad Cornes following the latter's scathing review of the Port Magpies' losing performance last weekend in the SANFL.

At a time when divisions have emerged between the club's on- and off-field operations Hinkley told Cornes, the new Port Adelaide Magpies coach, that he had further exacerbated the appearance of disunity by attacking the senior-listed players who performed in the second-tier competition.

Cornes said that "a lot of the AFL boys who came back played for themselves, they didn't play team footy, which was really disappointing". He told the Adelaide  Advertiser: "They didn't try to do the team thing, they tried to get cheap possessions and play for themselves so it looks good on the stats but they didn't play team and they didn't play tough."

The Magpies' line-up included Port Adelaide players Jared Polec, who had 28 disposals, Sam Colquhoun and Brendon Ah Chee.

Hinkley's concern reportedly centred upon any appearance of division between the SANFL and AFL  players in his push for harmony across the club. Cornes, who said he had never been more frustrated since returning to his old club from an assistant coaching role at Greater Western Sydney, is understood to have accepted his dressing down.

Last Saturday, chairman David Koch revealed his social media attack on Port Adelaide's performance against Greater Western Sydney had rattled the players. Captain Travis Boak confirmed he called the chairman and told him that the players would have preferred the matter addressed behind closed doors.

This in turn saw Koch, who reiterated the $6 million investment into Port's football department since taking over the presidency, suggest the players toughen up.

In further strange messaging, Boak and teammate Hamish Hartlett were moved on Monday to address rumours of a players' rift due to an issue involving their former girlfriends.

While the rumours were false, the story was front-page news in Adelaide and referred to an off-the-cuff comment made by Hartlett at a sponsors' function regarding his former partner and Boak.

Meanwhile, Geelong coach Chris Scott has been cautioned by the AFL after talking to Hartlett during the highly charged quarter-time break of Saturday's Port-Geelong match at Adelaide Oval.

AFL football operations boss Mark Evans is understood to have warned the Cats coach that contact with opposition players during games was in danger of escalating. Scott accepted the warning.