Port Adelaide assistant Josh Carr makes call over new job opportunities after applying for Richmond job in 2023

Josh Carr withdrew from the Richmond coaching race last year, and the Port assistant has made a big call on whether he’ll throw his hat in the ring for a top job in 2024.

Ken Hinkley’s contract expires at the end of 2025. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Port Adelaide assistant Josh Carr is committed to staying with the club if another senior coaching position becomes available this year.

Carr withdrew from Richmond’s coaching race last season to continue at Alberton, just days before the Power re-signed Ken Hinkley until the end of 2025.

On Wednesday, the Port Adelaide midfield coach indicated he would not be going anywhere before Hinkley’s contract was up.

Asked if he was committed to remaining at the Power for a couple of years even if senior posts opened this season, Carr said: “Yeah, I’m very committed to staying at Port Adelaide”.

The 2004 premiership player said he had chats with Hinkley and the club before pulling out of the Tigers’ search in what he described as a family decision.

Carr, 44, is the father of four young children, has a wife from Adelaide and has moved states twice since late 2019 – from SA to WA to become an assistant at Fremantle then coming back to the Power three years later.

Josh Carr and Ken Hinkley in discussions last year. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I was really happy with the conversations sitting down with Ken and the footy club, preparing for my future and just making sure I’m doing the right thing,” said Carr, who played 124 games for Port from 1999-2004 and 2009-10.

“I’d made two big moves, going to Perth and coming back.

“I have four kids that are at school and the whole thought process going into doing that again to a young family, I just felt I was in a really good position right now with Port.

“You’ve got to have a balance with family and football, and I thought the right balance was to stay here.”

Carr, who steered SANFL club North Adelaide to a premiership in 2018, said coaches with senior ambitions had to remain patient.

“If the opportunity comes up at the right time, I’ll be ready for it,” he said.

Hinkley will pass Mark Williams and become the Power’s longest serving coach if the club has a deep finals run this season.

The 57-year-old boasts a 148-100 win-loss record across 11 campaigns, which includes three preliminary finals, and most recently a straight-sets major-round exit.

Ken Hinkley with Carr and his other 2023 assistants last year. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Hinkley this month endorsed Carr potentially taking over from him, telling Nine Newspapers there was no doubt the club would be interested and it would be a “bloody good decision” if he was the person to eventually replace him.

In September, Power chief executive Matthew Richardson denied to this masthead that there was a Hinkley-Carr succession plan.

“Josh came back as an assistant coach and that hasn’t changed,” Richardson said.

Richardson also said it was difficult to say what would happen after Hinkley’s contract expired.

“Ken’s the best person to be our senior coach for the next two years and Josh continuing as an important part of our coaching group makes our program better,” he said.

“Our focus is on the now so I’m not sure what we’d do in two years.

“But if you look at other parts of our club, we’ve always looked to continue to grow and develop people internally and give people the opportunity to progress if we think that they’re the best people to do that job at that time.”

Originally published as Port Adelaide assistant Josh Carr makes call over new job opportunities after applying for Richmond job in 2023