AFL 2023: All the Port Adelaide news following 11th-straight win over Geelong

Despite being the AFL’s hottest team with 11 straight wins, Port Adelaide chairman David Koch says the club will not be budging on their August timeline to decide Ken Hinkley’s future.

Port Adelaide has not locked in an exact date to start talks on coach Ken Hinkley’s future but will factor in the whole season when it decides whether to re-sign him.

Chairman David Koch told SEN the August timeline it agreed to in January would remain, saying the Power was not a club that made “knee-jerk reactions during the year”.

Hinkley, who is in his 11th season at Alberton and has coached Port to three preliminary finals, is without a contract for 2024.

The external focus on his future remains sharp given the Power is on an 11-game winning streak and sits atop the ladder.

Koch did not regret saying September instead of August and would not specify whether there would be a call made on Hinkley before or after the finals.

Ken Hinkley led his side to 11 wins in a row on Thursday night. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“We don’t even have a day yet,” Koch said.

“September is a completely different competition.

“Who knows what is going to happen?

“You can read the tea leaves with that as much as you like, but that’s what we decided back in January and we’re going to stick to it.

“August will come, we’ll sit down and assess the season and it’s a collective decision.

“Ken is completely on board with this strategy.”

Asked by SEN co-host David King if the finals outcome would have a bearing on the decision and discussions, such as if the club bombed out in September, Koch said: “It will be one of a number of factors that we will look at.

“It’s not dependent on one thing, we look at it holistically.

“Frankly, we’re not even thinking about it at the moment.

“I’m enjoying the run, enjoying the way that we’re playing, I’m enjoying how the entire coaching group is going.”

As for what evidence the club needed to make a call, Koch said: “That we keep being successful, that the team plays with the confidence that we are now, if we keep rolling like it is at the moment.”

“A lot can happen in the second half of the season,” he said, adding that he still got “spooked” by Port’s 2018 campaign when it was 11-4 and missed the top eight.

Port Adelaide President David Koch says the club is sticking to its timeline. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The Power started the year with one win and two losses after three matches, leading 2004 premiership captain Warren Tredrea to say Hinkley’s position was untenable.

Koch said the club ignored early season “emotion”, just as it would any outside noise now.

He described Hinkley, who, like him, arrived at the Power at the end of 2012, as never having lost the side’s confidence.

“The players have always played for him over that 10 years,” he said.

“He’s like a father figure to them … he’s more than just a coach.”

Koch said Port entered this campaign very positive it was going to bounce back from its 11th-placed finish in 2022.

“We had so many collision injuries last year, it set us back and we always thought our improvement would come internally from our younger players and players coming back,” he said.

But Koch did not think anyone would have expected the club to be performing this well.