AFL news: Josh Carr returns to Port Adelaide as assistant coach

One of the architects of Port Adelaide’s historic AFL premiership is returning to the club to support Ken Hinkley.

Port Adelaide premiership hard nut Josh Carr is returning to Alberton as an assistant.

The Power lured Carr, who played 124 games for the club from 2000-04 and 2009-10, then was in its coaching box from 2011-15, back from Fremantle to oversee its midfield.

He had been in charge of the Dockers’ on-ball unit for the past three seasons, growing his reputation as the team went from 11th last year to a semi-final this campaign.

The 42-year-old’s arrival coincides with the departures of two Power coaches – assistant and premiership teammate Brett Montgomery, along with SANFL mentor Matthew Lokan.

Port Adelaide football manager Chris Davies said Carr, who also coached North Adelaide to the 2018 state-league flag, would provide a fresh perspective and voice.

The Power slumped from consecutive preliminary finals to finish 11th this year.

“Josh is someone I have maintained contact with since he left the club, watching on as he developed himself and became an accomplished coach in his own right,” Davies said.

“We know the kind of person he is and have admired what he has been able to achieve, both with North Adelaide and Fremantle.

“We are excited to bring him and his family back to the club.”

Josh Carr is returning to Port Adelaide.

Carr returns in a key coaching role as Ken Hinkley prepares to enter the final season of his contract.

Drafted with pick 7 in 1998, Carr began his AFL career with the Power then was traded to Fremantle after the 2004 flag.

The West Australian came back to Port Adelaide to finish his playing career and started his coaching journey there.

Carr went to the Roosters from 2016-19, before joining ex-Dockers teammate Justin Longmuir’s coaching contingent at Fremantle.

Josh Carr is chaired off after his last game for Port Adelaide.

Dockers football manager Peter Bell said Carr had been a great servant for the club as both a player and coach.

“With his wife Karolina’s family based in South Australia, we fully understand and support the decision they have made as a family,” Bell said.

Montgomery, who played alongside Carr in the 2004 flag, returned to Port Adelaide ahead of the 2019 campaign.

He initially oversaw the club’s defence then switched to the midfield this year.

Lokan, a former Port Adelaide SANFL player, became its state-league coach before the 2018 season and led the team to the 2019 grand final.

After not fielding a team in 2020 due to Covid, the Magpies finished seventh and eighth the past two years.

Davies said the club had decided to change its coaching group after reviewing the season.

“Brett agreed after four years working at the club that this would be a good time for him to also pursue new opportunities,” Davies said.

“He is an outstanding coach and will be missed, but we respect his decision.

“Matthew has made a valued contribution to player development while guiding our SANFL program.”

SPECIAL FAMILY, SA LINKS WHICH MADE RIOLI CHOOSE PORT

A strong rapport with Ken Hinkley is among a myriad of reasons why Junior Rioli wants to move to Port Adelaide.

Power mentor Hinkley coached Rioli’s dad, Willie Sr, at Hampden league club Mortlake in the late 1990s when Junior was a toddler.

Having maintained a relationship with Hinkley since those days, Rioli Jr is now in line to follow in his father’s footsteps by playing under him next season.

The 27-year-old, who is out of contract and seeking to join Port Adelaide from West Coast, has other coaching connections at the Power.

Port Adelaide SANFL mentor Matthew Lokan took a chance on Rioli when he moved from Darwin as an unfit, mercurial small forward to play for Glenelg, cementing a bond as he went on to star for the Tigers and get drafted in 2016.

Rioli is also quite close with Shaun Burgoyne, who has a multifaceted off-field role at the Power.

Junior Rioli. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty

Power coach Ken Hinkley. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty

They caught up in Adelaide for coffee last week as Rioli was mulling over his decision.

But the meeting was not understood to have swayed him because Burgoyne, a mentor over the years, did not put him under pressure.

Rioli’s Port Adelaide ties were not a major factor in his call to leave the Eagles, nor was there any one reason for the move.

Rather when combined with other appealing aspects, such as his SA family connections, the chance for a fresh start and a lucrative, four-year contract, Rioli felt the Power was where he wanted to be.

Rioli, whose dad died in July, has close relatives in Adelaide and his mum spends a lot of time in SA.

A belief that Port Adelaide is primed for a return to contention next season after missing the finals this year is also enticing.

Willie Rioli emerged as a draft prospect while playing in the SANFL for Glenelg.

The Power and those around Rioli believe his best football is ahead of him.

His forward craft, defensive pressure, smarts and goalkicking are among the appeals for Port, which has been very keen to bolster its small forward ranks.

It has lost Robbie Gray and Steven Motlop to retirement, as well as been without Orazio Fantasia due to injury.

Rioli kicked 14.3 for the Eagles in 2022 – his first campaign back after a two-year doping ban – to take his career tally to 60 majors from 51 games.

There is confidence that the 2018 premiership player will only be better with another pre-season under his belt.

Rioli had been sitting on the fence due to loyalty to West Coast given it stuck by him during his time on the sidelines.

But as difficult as it was to leave the Eagles, he felt there were a range of overwhelming reasons why he should put his family first and join the Power.

Rioli also had interest from several other clubs.

Port Adelaide is yet to give an indication as to how it plans to get the trade deal done.

‘BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED’: EAGLES’ RIOLI PARTING WHACK

- Jon Ralph

Port Adelaide’s aggressive pursuit of Junior Rioli has paid off as he agreed to a four-year deal worth up to $2.4 million that will set up his financial future.

Rioli met with Port Adelaide last week and said after a Monday breakfast with AFL legend and Port Adelaide staffer Shaun Burgoyne he was keen to get to the Power.

But on Tuesday the Eagles were informed he officially wanted a trade in what has been an emotional and loyalty-tugging decision.

The exciting small forward, 27, was banned for two years after a pair of ASADA issues that included him substituting urine in an official sample with an energy drink.

West Coast stuck with him and paid his legal fees, with Rioli enduring another tough year in 2022 with the passing of his father.

But with Rioli keen to be closer to his family, who live in Darwin, the four-year deal will allow him financial security to buy them a house in the Northern Territory.

West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett lashed Rioli on the way out, saying he was “bitterly disappointed” to lose him to the Power.

“We could not have done any more to support Junior since his infraction in 2019,” he said.

“We facilitated his appeal and subsequent return to football, so this decision is bitterly disappointing.”

“We will put that disappointment to one side now and work to arrange a suitable trade for a player who has high end talent, is a premiership player and is in the prime of his career, having played just 51 games of senior football.

“Junior has made his decision and while he has indicated Port is his preferred destination we will work to get the best outcome for our club.”

Junior Rioli wants to be traded to Port Adelaide.

Rioli is set to move on after 51 games for West Coast.

The Power are also chasing Western Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley and while he has not yet made a decision he is likely to leave his club and choose Port Adelaide or Brisbane.

Ex-West Coast player Xavier Ellis said recently that Rioli owed the Eagles and should stay at the club given they had stuck by him.

But the Eagles’ decision to retain him on their list through his suspension also allowed them to keep his services when he returned given other clubs had strong interest in the star goal sneak.

Rioli said last week he had to consider his family when he made his decision.

“If I do leave, it’s not because I don’t like the club, it’s like any workforce – if you’re going to get paid somewhere else better or you’ve got a longer stint somewhere, you’re going to move not just for yourself but for your family.”

The decision will allow the Power to release Connor Rozee and Zac Butters into even more prominent midfield roles as the club replaces retiring forwards Robbie Gray and Steven Motlop.

There were reports on Tuesday West Coast had interest in forward Mitch Georgiadis but the Power will make clear he is not leaving.

Similarly half back flanker Miles Bergman is to be held to his contract for 2023 despite strong Victorian interest.

Karl Amon will move to Hawthorn under a five-year $650,000 free agency deal and is set to talk about his decision for the first time at a trade breakfast on Wednesday.

Amon’s decision could hand the Power and end-of-first-round compensation selection which will hand them two picks within the 20s, but the Dogs would haggle long and hard on a trade for Dunkley if he did move on.

Originally published as AFL news: Josh Carr returns to Port Adelaide as assistant coach