Ken Hinkley re-signs at Port Adelaide: Jay Clark analyses succession plan, Collingwood comparison
The Power locked up both Ken Hinkley and assistant coach Josh Carr, but with whispers of succession plans in the air, how does Port avoid the same fate Collingwood suffered over a decade ago?
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Port Adelaide can have the happy marriage, rather than uncomfortable divorce which played out at Collingwood more than a decade ago.
The writing has been on the wall for some time at Port that its senior coach Ken Hinkley has truly earned a two-year contract extension after starting the season as the most under-pressure man in football.
At the end of the day, Hinkley has — among many things — an intensely close relationship with his players and the ability to make them feel 10-foot-tall and bulletproof.
Look at Jason Horne Francis; at Zak Butters. Jeremy Finlayson. The medical department recently. Ken has their backs.
Geelong great Steve Johnson lauds Hinkley for his role in the Cats’ dynasty, helping Mark Thompson and Brendan McCartney to three flags.
Hinkley has always been a strong defensive coach, and now the man from Camperdown in Victoria’s west has some of the most lethal young midfield weapons in the game at his disposal.
They are primed for the next two years, the Power.
But the wrinkle over the past couple of months may have been how the club keeps Hinkley and his highly-rated right hand man Josh Carr without the kind of formal succession plan which blew up privately and publicly at Collingwood in 2011.
The smart move Port Adelaide has made in all this is not calling it a succession plan or putting a timeline on things.
Carr was seen as a frontrunner for the Richmond job if he wanted to go for it, but decided to stick in the teal after crossing from Fremantle last year.
Hypothetically speaking, if Hinkley leads Port to the next three flags with Carr riding shotgun, of course Hinkley will have the choice to sign another contract extension at the end of 2025.
He will deserve it.
Michael Malthouse probably did too in 2011.
It is easy in hindsight, but the mistake Collingwood made in its Malthouse – Nathan Buckley arrangement in 2009 was that end date.
In 2009, it may have seemed like the right idea as president Eddie McGuire believed Malthouse’s health was a factor, McGuire said.
But Malthouse was soon back at the peak of his powers in 2010, winning the premiership over St Kilda, and making the Grand Final against Geelong the following year.
They lost only three games for the year, the Pies, all to Geelong. Certainly, they looked invincible for the first half of the season in 2011 before injuries began to pile up.
He was as sharp as a tack, Mick, fearsome, and full of confidence back then in his prime 2010-2011 years.
And everyone knew what was happening when he said in an interview by the end of it that it was hard to turn the tap off as a senior coach. Clearly, he wanted to go on.
It created one of the most awkward environments in football history at Collingwood, was probably unfair on both men and in the end some ego took over.
The players had a wedge driven between them in a sense, and they walked on egg shells down the corridors around the deal.
Who was list management to answer to? Where did the players’ take their instructions?
Why was Malthouse being turfed out anyway? Eye contact was avoided on the subject.
Buckley handled himself with absolute class throughout that whole period to his eternal credit.
Tough position to be in. If Malthouse was prickly in the presses, you can imagine it got tense in internal meetings, too. The bulls in the paddock etc.
And Malthouse probably should have coached on at Collingwood in truth in 2012 instead of joining Carlton, which imploded anyway. But that is another story altogether.
Possibly, Port has learned from those mistakes. They want the blissful marriage, if such a thing exists in football.
One where the club can stay in the moment, make decisions as they best seem to fit the time.
Hinkley is a thoroughly decent and popular man, and an astute coach who has had many doubters over his time at Port Adelaide.
But he has played the long game and will putt for birdie this season and the next two years with the list at its disposal.
When he and the club is ready, Hinkley will step aside. And the heir to the Port Adelaide throne will be ready-to-go, too.
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