My Two Cents: Ken Hinkley leaves new Port Adelaide Power coach Josh Carr a full tank for AFL revival | Andrew Capel
Port Adelaide is out of the AFL finals race this year but they’ll have Hinkley to thank when the revival starts, writes Andrew Capel.
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The core is there.
While even outgoing coach Ken Hinkley has conceded the finals are beyond an injury-ravaged Port Adelaide this year, the 13-year mentor is not leaving a mess behind for his replacement, Josh Carr, to clean up when he takes the reins at the end of the season.
Instead, Carr – who will sit in an AFL coaching hot seat for the first time – will be inheriting a list with some top-end talent that can make waves in his first year in charge.
The surprise re-signing of ace utility Miles Bergman for two years last week would have brought a massive smile to the current assistant coach’s face as he plots a quick turnaround for the Power, which will miss the finals this season for only the second time in the past six years.
Sure, there is plenty of work for Carr to do.
Season-ending injuries on the weekend to forward line enforcer Sam Powell-Pepper (knee), key defender Esava Ratugolea (hamstring) and emerging ruckman Dante Visentini (ankle) will further unsettle the Port team in Hinkley’s final seven games in charge.
They could, however, open the door for the Power to “test’’ more players Carr wants to make a list call on at the end of the season.
Make no mistake, he has been sitting in the coaching box this year with a judgmental hat on, trying to work out who is and isn’t going to be a part of his first Port squad.
What Carr can be assured of, however – barring a shock departure of superstar midfielder Zak Butters with a year left on his contract – is that he will have a group of young stars he can quickly build around.
In Butters, Bergman, captain Connor Rozee, powerhouse midfielder Jason Horne-Francis and exciting key forwards Mitch Georgiades and Jack Lukosius, the Power has a “super six’’ young guns brigade that would be the envy of many other clubs, highlighting that its list is far from broken, despite this year’s disappointing 7-9 campaign.
The sextet – all first-round draft picks – are aged from 22 to 25, with Horne-Francis the youngest and Rozee the oldest.
Butters, Bergman – in his new position as a midfielder – and Horne-Francis form the nucleus of an elite midfield group, which can be supported by 2021 Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines and the reliable Willem Drew, who is often employed as a tagger.
The classy Rozee, who along with Butters ranks in the top 10 in the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year Award, has proven to be very damaging as a playmaker in his new role at halfback, while Georgiades and Lukosius can form a dynamic one-two forward line punch.
The high-flying Georgiades has kicked a team-leading 42 goals this season – just two shy of his career-best haul of 44 last year.
Former Gold Coast Sun Lukosius illustrated his attacking ability with a three-goal, nine-mark performance against premier Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night in his first AFL game since round 3 following serious knee and back injuries.
The hard-running, 195cm Lukosius’s elite long kicking is a weapon, which he proved against the Lions by booting two majors from outside 50m.
The Power will welcome back another key forward to support the duo next season, with Todd Marshall – who has missed the entire season with a ruptured Achilles tendon – returning a much stronger player after hitting the gym in his time out of the game.
He has done his best Riley Thilthorpe impersonation (the star Crow bulked up considerably when he was sidelined with a knee injury last year) and put on 7kg of muscle in the hope of being able to physically impose himself more in contests.
“It’s a vision for me because I won’t be there, but my vision sees Lukosius, Marshall and Georgiades together in the forward line, which I thought at the start of the year might have been pretty hard work for some sides to handle,’’ Hinkley said after the 28-point loss to the Lions.
“Joe Richards (former Collingwood small forward) has come into the front half as well, so we’ve put a fair bit of ‘new’ into that front half and it’s pretty exciting.
“Unfortunately we’re not in the eight this year, but we’re a side that going forward has a bright future.’’
Carr’s sales pitch to keep Bergman from accepting big money offers from rivals to return home to Victoria was “about what the team looks like going forward”.
Assistant coach Tyson Goldsack, buoyed by Bergman’s re-signing, described Port’s list as “really exciting’’.
“Going forward we will have arguably one of the most talented midfield groups in the comp and you give them two more years together and they will only improve,’’ he said.
“We’re really excited by the list we have and hope to improve year-on-year.’’
If Port could somehow secure star out-of-contract Croweater Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera from St Kilda – he had a career-high 43 disposals against Hawthorn last Saturday – its list would take another quantum leap forward.
The Power, along with the Crows, are trying to pry him from the Saints.
But Bergman’s re-signing would make a trade very difficult, given Port doesn’t own a first-round draft pick this year after sending that selection to the Suns as part of a complicated, three-club deal that netted it Lukosius.
While Carr – a 2004 Port premiership midfielder and 2018 North Adelaide SANFL premiership coach – will be robbed of Powell-Pepper’s influence for the first half of next season, the list is far from broken or in need of a complete overhaul.
There will clearly be change as Carr makes an off-season call on some underperforming or ageing players and highly-respected list manager Jason Cripps tries to work his magic.
But the key jigsaw pieces are in place.
NUMBERS GAME
28
Points that Adelaide trailed Melbourne by in the second quarter before winning by 13.
43
Career-high disposals for St Kilda’s star Croweater Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera against Hawthorn.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“It’s really, really sad and when I think about it, it gets a bit sadder for me because it’s my last game of coaching Sam, and he’s been such a great player for me.’’ – an emotional Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley following Sam Powell-Pepper’s season-ending knee injury against Brisbane.
“You’ve got to win in different ways, so from our point of view it’s a really positive win for the footy club.’’ – Crows coach Matthew Nicks on his side’s comeback victory against Melbourne.
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