Matthew Nicks steps up to ’senior assistant’ as Ken Hinkley starts fifth season without coaching director
KEN Hinkley’s coaching panel at Port Adelaide is locked — with no coaching director and Matthew Nicks being promoted to the new role of “senior assistant”.
KEN Hinkley’s coaching panel at Port Adelaide is locked — with no coaching director and Matthew Nicks being promoted to the new role of “senior assistant”.
Hinkley will work with three “line coaches” next season — Brendon Lade returning from Richmond to be the Power’s ruck and forwards coach; Nathan Bassett retaining defence for his second year at Alberton and Brownlow Medallist Michael Voss continuing to manage the Power midfield for his third season.
Each zone coach will have a lieutenant — Stuart Cochrane (midfield), Trent Hentschel (forwards) and Jacob Surjan (defence).
Chad Cornes remains as the Port Adelaide Magpies (SANFL) coach working in tandem with the Power AFL program.
There will be no other appointment to Hinkley’s panel, with Port Adelaide not chasing former Western Bulldogs assistant coach Brent Montgomery for a return to Alberton, as has been long speculated.
Hinkley will start his fifth AFL season as a senior coach with no coaching director, as he had on arrival at Alberton in 2013 with Alan Richardson (now at St Kilda) and, in the past three years, with Shaun Hart.
The responsibilities from that senior portfolio will be taken up by Nicks, who will lead the Power’s analysis of opposition teams, and football chief Chris Davies.
This is another significant statement on Nicks, who last year in the 2015 NAB Challenge pre-season took charge of the Power team for two practice games.
The former Sydney player steps away from coaching Port Adelaide’s forwards to leave that assignment to Lade.
Nicks, regarded as an AFL senior coach in the making, has been at Alberton since 2011 working in the development program (2011-12), as defence coach (2013-15) and as forwards coach in the past season. He will now be Hinkley’s right-hand man and key analyst on opposition teams and game trends.
Hinkley’s coaching panel loses two staffers from this year. Hart has taken up a newly created role as the Port Adelaide’s director of academies. Midfield assistant Garry Hocking has left the club after not having his contract renewed.
ADELAIDE closed this season with its coaching panel already on contract for Season 2017 with senior coach Don Pyke to keep Scott Camporeale (midfield), Matthew Clarke (ruck), James Podsiadly (defence) and David Teague (forwards).
The coaching staff at West Lakes does gain former captain Nathan van Berlo as a development coach and will work veteran Scott Thompson on a one-year contract as a player and mentor to the Crows midfielders, as he starts his coaching apprenticeship.
The significant vacancy at Adelaide is football supremo to replace David Noble, who has moved to Brisbane. The role has been passed up by experienced coach and West Coast premiership hero Peter Sumich who is staying in Perth to manage the WA State under-18 program
As Adelaide’s season continued to the second week of the AFL major round, the Crows will start their pre-season program later this month.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au