Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley safe for now as assistant Josh Carr looms large for 2025
Ken Hinkley’s future is in severe doubt with an assistant coach waiting in the wings. Plus the Power admit their off-season recruits haven’t been as good as the club had hoped.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Port Adelaide will desperately try to maximise the potential of its list before a season-ending decision on Ken Hinkley as the Power admitted it hadn’t yet got bang for buck from its quartet of off-season recruits.
Veteran coach Hinkley’s future is now in severe doubt given he will likely need a deep finals run to coach into 2025 after last year’s straight-sets departure.
But the Power will make no mid-season decisions on Hinkley, aware it is off the pace but keen to rectify those issues in the contest and with ball movement.
Hinkley has another season on his deal but senior assistant Josh Carr is the club’s heir apparent despite Port Adelaide stressing there is no formal contract for him to take over.
The club has a clear succession plan in place, with chairman David Koch saying the Power was determined to hire from within when Hinkley’s time is up.
He said recently the club had an “extraordinarily high regard” for Carr, who pulled out of the Richmond coaching race given the likelihood he would be the Power’s senior coach at some stage.
The Power were diabolic against Brisbane at home on Saturday, but the stability of the club and their 8-6 record will give Hinkley time to coach out the season.
Even his greatest supporter Kane Cornes said on Sunday it was “about to get ugly” given the under-performing nature of the list.
The Power gave up a future first-rounder and a welter of 2023 picks including pick 25, 41 and 50 to secure Esava Ratugolea, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Ivan Soldo and Jordan Sweet.
Against Brisbane Ratugolea was well beaten, Zerk-Thatcher was subbed out, Soldo was playing SANFL and Sweet was smashed by the Lions’ three-goal ruck Oscar McInerney.
Hinkley was roundly booed by Port Adelaide fans as he left the ground and admitted he had heard the reaction from the club’s faithful.
Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies said entering the game the club was aware its list might not be good enough.
But he said the sole focus was working on areas of the game plan like ball movement to assess how much improvement was in the list.
“There are parts of our game that we can get better in 2024, that rather than having to look too far down the track and think this group is not good enough … Maybe this group is not good enough. But that isn’t going to stop us from trying to get the maximum out of our team in 2024 that we can,” he told SEN.
Davies said it was the club’s midfield brigade that would define the club’s season rather than players who had been recruited to fill positional holes.
“None of the people we brought in over the off-season are having All Australian type years. Maybe if you look previously at the players we brought in who have automatically got better with (Aliir) Aliir or Brad Ebert in the past or Jason Horne-Francis now, you need to step back and say why did Port Adelaide bring those players in in the first place?
“We had a real need from a list perspective to plug those holes and we brought in some players who are absolutely good AFL players. Have they maybe taken it to the next level yet? It’s fair to suggest they haven’t
“But it doesn’t mean the sum of the parts isn’t better with those guys in our club and they weren’t the ones who were going to take it to the next level. We have to develop our captain (Connor Rozee), our midfield group. We have got a midfield group that can perform better as individuals and the sum of its parts and maybe you need to look at a different group of players who will take Port Adelaide to the next level rather than the group of players who came in. My view is that those guys have made us better. Now we have to work out the way as a group we get better from here.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley safe for now as assistant Josh Carr looms large for 2025
Shock scenario in Bailey Smith stalemate
Bailey Smith’s Western Bulldogs exit has set up a potentially rare scenario that could deliver a shock result as Geelong’s offer hits a stalemate.
The late draft pick that could deliver Stringer to Giants
Essendon is open to trading inconsistent star Jake Stringer to GWS as the 30-year-old considers a beefed-up offer from the Giants.
Festival of Lies: Clubs ‘treating public for fools’ in trade spotlight
It’s the time of year for list managers and recruiters to shine, but the trade period has become a festival of lies. SCOTT GULLAN writes, the days of getting away with such gibberish are gone.
Revealed: Staggering asking price leaves Blue out in cold
The huge price Carlton forward Matt Owies has put on his head can be revealed as rival clubs baulk at his contract demands. Recap all the action from day 2 of the trade period here.
Rioli at centre of historic Tigers draft haul as rivals plot future raid
Rivals are planning to test the resolve of more Richmond stars in trade talks after this year’s Punt Road exodus. Plus, how many draft picks will the Tigers end up with?
Max’s Metrics: Numbers behind stars Saint’s staggering contract
Max King has signed an eye-boggling new contract after the Saints lined his numbers up against past greats. They liked what they saw and here is how the spearhead compares to 12 others.