Ken Hinkley and the Port succession plan shows that the soon to be former coach is either supremely confident in his own skin or too stubborn to quit | Graham Cornes

Ken Hinkley must be supremely confident in his own skin to agree to this succession plan, or maybe it’s just ornery stubbornness, writes Graham Cornes.

Ken Hinkley must be supremely confident in his own skin to agree to this succession plan.

I’m reminded of that old saying about employing a person who is smarter than you are? (You prove that you’re smarter than they are).

Obviously he is resigned to the fact that 2025 was going to be his final year at Alberton anyway. Nevertheless, you couldn’t blame Hinkley for walking away.

I doubt there is an AFL coach of the modern era who has had to endure such a tumultuous ride. But he is staying. More power to him.

Or maybe it’s just ornery stubbornness. He won’t let them drive him out. Port fans are notoriously demanding.

Josh Carr senior assistant coach of Port Adelaide, Port Adelaide Football Club chairman David Koch and Ken Hinkley senior coach of Port Adelaide speak to the media during a Port Adelaide Power AFL press conference at Alberton Oval. Photo by Mark Brake.

Unable to escape that time warp when the Port Adelaide Magpies won premierships almost at will, they made Hinkley’s time at Port Adelaide much more difficult than it needed to be. There hasn’t been a coach who has had to endure the criticism of his own fans for such a sustained period.

It is inflamed in this modern era when even half-witted “fans” can have their opinions aired and heard. We’ve had talkback radio for over 50 years now, but the various social media platforms are a relatively new phenomenon. At a radio station we have a dump-button that dispatches the overly abusive and critical idiots to a sonic trash can. However, there seems to be little or no filter on social media.

It empowers those with no conscience to trample over the reputations and emotions of anyone in the public eye - especially football coaches.

For nearly two seasons now it has been touted that Josh Carr will succeed Hinkley as the senior coach. He must be good because if that was a trial period, he has well and truly triumphed.

The midfield is Port’s real strength and Carr has shaped and blended those three outstanding talents, Rozee, Butters and Horne-Francis with the less-heralded workhorse Willem Drew into one of the competition’s most formidable engine-rooms. He does it without any flair or self-promotion.

To the football public he’s quiet, almost sullen - but they notice. By some over-reactive Power fans, Port’s successes in these past couple of seasons were often credited to the midfield coach. They dismissed Hinkley’s influence until there was a loss to complain about. Then it was the senior coach’s fault.

But Hinkley prevailed. He remained stoic, only letting his guard down once at the end of that epic win against St Kilda when the brief moment of choking emotion exposed the impact of the pressure he had been under.

There had been three losses in a row - the last one a crushing 79 point defeat to Brisbane at home. They had booed him from the ground. The ignominy of it. Then a last-gasp two-point victory against St Kilda. Who wasn’t moved by it? Only those without a heart would not see what it meant to him.

They finished the season strongly, winning the last five games to grab second spot on the ladder but the astute footy observers knew that they weren’t as good as that. Others had fallen around them and Hinkley had extracted the best from a team that had a few deficiencies.

The finals became a time of reckoning.

Josh Carr (left) with Ken Hinkley. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

The midfield couldn’t do it all. They’d lost their two best rebounding defenders in Dan Houston and Kane Farrell. The forward line was never settled. Sam Powell-Pepper had been missing for the whole season, Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall constantly fought injury. For the second season in a row, they limped into the finals.

Smashed by Geelong in the qualifying final, they then recovered to beat the resurgent Hawthorn in the semi- final. But they had lost the home ground advantage for the preliminary final and in Sydney all their shortcomings were exposed by the Swans.

Preliminary finals are the toughest ones to win, and are often the best contests. But not that one. The brutal reality is that Port weren’t good enough to make the grand final, let alone win it.

Over 12 seasons, Ken Hinkley got the best out of his team but 12 years without a premiership or at least a grand final appearance is unacceptable to Port fans. Perhaps they forget the dire circumstances of the club when Hinkley took over.

He revived the team and along with it, the circumstances of the club, but going into his 13th season only a premiership could have ensured any extension to his tenure at Alberton.

So it was an astute strategy for the club to start looking for his replacement. They didn’t have to look too far, although sound judges query why they wouldn’t explore the availability of other coaches who might be available. John Longmire and Nathan Buckley spring readily to mind.

It’s not unusual for clubs to put in coaching succession plans. What is unusual is that this one has been announced before the season has started. It brings enormous pressure to bear on both the incumbent and the incoming coach.

Some of those plans have been successful, others not so. What is not commonly recognised is that Port Adelaide Power had already implemented a coaching succession plan with stunning success. John Cahill was the obvious choice as the Power’s first coach.

He deserved to lead the club in those early years but there is no doubt Mark Williams was his anointed successor. Whilst it never became a matter of public debate, John Cahill was willing and wanted to continue in the role after the first two years.

On performance he had earned that right, but the club was firm and adhered to the succession plan. Fortunately, Mark Williams’ tenure brought them that success in 2004. Alas, there was no succession plan for Williams’ eventual demise which plunged the club into a period of mediocrity - until Hinkley revived them.

Succession plans worked at Sydney and Melbourne, not so at Collingwood or Essendon. It got ugly at Hawthorn but looks like it still might succeed.

It’s going to be an interesting year at Port Adelaide. These past couple of seasons may have been hard but Hinkley will be under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before. Early losses will be hard to endure and the inevitable calls for him to leave will become strident. But regardless of any early season form, there will be an inevitable slump which will build enormous pressure.

There are two things that I’ve most admired about Ken Hinkley. One is that he is a fighter. He will take on the world. Emotions might overcome him but he will stare down his critics. The second is the compassion that endears him to his players. Courage and compassion. They are complementing qualities. He won’t quit, but sometimes the outgoing coach loses control of the narrative

Club chairman David Koch has said that regardless of performance Hinkley will see the year out. A betting man would gladly take the odds against that.

Originally published as Ken Hinkley and the Port succession plan shows that the soon to be former coach is either supremely confident in his own skin or too stubborn to quit | Graham Cornes