Port Adelaide news: Power chairman David Koch says club must sign Ken Hinkley before finals

Have Ken Hinkley and Port Adelaide reached a verbal agreement on a new contract? Chairman David Koch didn’t exactly buy into the discussion. Here’s the latest.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 09: Ken Hinkley, Senior Coach of the Power celebrates during the 2023 AFL Round 13 match between the Western Bulldogs and the Port Adelaide Power at Marvel Stadium on June 9, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch says the club needs to sign coach Ken Hinkley before finals to avoid it becoming a distraction.

Koch said it would be “silly” not to have talks completed by September.

Suggestions emerged last week that a verbal agreement had been reached between Hinkley – in his 11th year at the helm – and the club for a three-year deal, but Koch said discussions remain ongoing.

“I won’t say anything,” he said when asked to confirm or deny the verbal agreement.

“We always said we’d have discussions in August – we planned that from the very start. Discussions are ongoing at the moment, and when we’ve got something to announce, we’ll announce it.

“We said … that we’d start discussions in August. I think it would be silly not to do it before finals, because you just don’t want that distraction.

“We always said there’d be a discussion and a decision in August and at this stage, there’s no reason for me to think otherwise.”

Hinkley’s future at the club has been a hot topic of discussion throughout the whole season. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

The Power sit fourth on the ladder – more than two games clear of Carlton in fifth – but have dropped their last four games.

Greater Western Sydney awaits on Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Oval.

Koch, who has been chairman of Port Adelaide since 2012, said the club would not be pressured into rushing any negotiations despite long-running conjecture surrounding Hinkley’s coaching future.

“We try and be a club that sticks to its word, but also has a process, is very methodical about it,” he said on FIVEaa.

“We look at the data and we make decisions based on the data and what is for the best of the club going forward. And we just don’t think week to week. We think (in) four, five, 10-year plans. And what could eventuate during them.

“Now, you never know with football clubs, but that’s the process we’re going through at the moment.

“We have our own timetable – we’ll stick to it. I know everybody else wants us to fit into their timetable, but we’ll stick with ours which we think is in the best interest of the club.”