Mick Malthouse has his say on Port Adelaide’s coaching succession plan
Coaching great Mick Malthouse, who went through a controversial succession plan at Collingwood, has questioned why Port Adelaide would announce its handover so close to round 1.
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One of the figures most synonymous with AFL succession plans believes the timing of Port Adelaide’s announcement will be a distraction for the players.
Mick Malthouse, who was part of a controversial handover to Nathan Buckley at Collingwood at the end of 2011, was surprised the Power did not make a call early in the pre-season to ensure it had clearer air by round 1.
Port Adelaide presented the situation as coach Ken Hinkley coming to the club this past fortnight to confirm this year would be his last, passing the baton to senior assistant Josh Carr.
Power chairman David Koch said giving the football program certainty before the handover provided the best opportunity to transition well.
Malthouse understood the need for clarity but was unsure why it could not have happened in October last year, rather than four weeks before the club’s first match.
“Why now? They could have gone ‘we’ll have a real run at this’, get the news out before Christmas and away we go,” the longest-serving coach in VFL/AFL history told this masthead.
“Right now, it’s done everything except that, it’s become the news.
“It opens up Pandora’s box.
“I think it’s very short notice to have players now focus in on what’s right in front of them.
“This is a time you should be looking at your membership, looking at the draw, who do we play, what’s my team look like – that’s all now secondary to the club announcing this is Ken’s last year.
“It’s going to be a distraction.
“It will be mentioned externally from a good win to a bad loss.
“And it’s hard to avoid external things being spoken about internally because players will talk about it.
“The announcement happening is not a surprise, the announcement happening now is.”
Port Adelaide’s timing came in contrast to Sydney’s latest succession plan.
The Swans did not go public with their handover until long-time senior coach John Longmire stepped aside in November for Dean Cox, off the back of the club’s grand final thrashing.
“People aren’t talking about it now, it’s over with,” said Malthouse, a triple premiership coach who had stints at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton.
“If Port measure up and start winning games, there’ll be cries of ‘why did they announce it, he’s going well’.
“If things don’t work out at any stage during the year, the question will be ‘why didn’t he step down now?’
“And let me tell you, that’ll be real.
“A few good wins and the timing is irrelevant.
“An indifferent start and the timing might come back to bite them.”
Port was confident its handover plan would work without jeopardising the team.
According to Hinkley, it was “too good a program with great people” and the club had regularly proven critics wrong.
Malthouse said the Power could say what it liked but whether the move was successful would unfold on a week-to-week basis.
“One thing is Ken’s definitely got the players,” he said.
“But the 24th player to 28th player that misses out each week is going to be thinking ‘am I going to become a regular with the new coach?’ It’s human nature.”
Collingwood planned a succession from Malthouse to Nathan Buckley in 2009 that was supposed to have the former become coaching director after the 2011 season.
The Magpies won the 2010 flag then finished Malthouse’s final campaign with the club’s best-ever minor-round record and a grand final loss, as tension arose about whether the transition should have been postponed.
Malthouse left Collingwood with immediate effect after that season.
Asked how Hinkley would be feeling, the coaching great said: “Ken will get on with it and you just have to”.
“You just do your best, you give the players the most support you possibly can.
“We’ll see how the year pans out at Port – and no one knows how it will.”
Originally published as Mick Malthouse has his say on Port Adelaide’s coaching succession plan
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