Port Adelaide’s football boss says Ken Hinkey is “absolutely committed” to coaching the club into his 13th season in 2025 despite reports suggesting the 57-year old could walk from his role.
Reports this week claimed people close to Hinkley wouldn’t be shocked if he stepped down as Power coach due to the toll of ongoing speculation around his role.
Port’s longest ever serving coach, Hinkley has failed to lead the club beyond the preliminary hurdle since taking the helm in 2013 despite multiple top four finishes.
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However, Power footy manager Chris Davies, who’s worked alongside Hinkley since the end of 2014, believes Hinkley still has the hunger to lead the club into another campaign.
“I can only reiterate the position that I’m seeing through the exit period and that is that Ken is absolutely committed to this group getting better for 2025,” he told reporters.
“That (whether he’ll definitely continue coaching) would be ultimately a question for Ken. But from my standpoint, I’m not seeing anything here that would suggest that he’s not as equally enthused on the potential for next year than what he was this time last year.
“We’ve come from three days worth of exit meetings. We’ve come from the start of what our coaching review looks like and there is nothing right now that’s suggesting to me that Ken doesn’t have the energy for the 2025 season.
“I think it takes a toll on every coach. The 18 AFL senior coaches have a have a tough job. They bear the brunt of people feeling like they’re on top of the world, if they’re at the top of the ladder, or equally, that they’re the problem when their team is down the bottom, whether that be Ken or the other coaches around the competition.
“I think Ken is a remarkably resilient person who has shown over time that he is able to get a fair bit out of this group. You don’t perform the way that we do without having a coach who can drive and motivate both his playing group and also the staff around him.”
Davies was adamant it was wrong for anyone to suggest the club didn’t “achieve something” year despite again falling short of a grand final.
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It comes with Josh Carr waiting in the wings to take over as senior coach when Hinkley does eventually move on.
“When the time comes that Ken wants to give the game away, then I think we’ve got some very good candidates to take over that position,” he said.
“I’ve said that ad nauseam but I’m not going to say that right now.”
Davies wasn’t willing to comment on rumours of his own exit amid links to the Collingwood football boss role.
“This is an important time for us all to recalibrate where the next part of our club goes,” he said.
“I never want to be in the situation sitting here guaranteeing my own future, the club has its own right. I’m certainly not giving you a direct answer with regard to any other club.
“I don’t want to be sat here saying ‘I’m the man for the next five years at Port Adelaide, if Port Adelaide didn’t think that was the case’.”
Hinkley addressed several other topics as part of a lengthy 33-minute presser ahead of an eventful off-season for the club.
Dan Houston’s trade request to Victoria
“I don’t think we’ve ever come out in the media and suggested what we think we’re going to need (in return). I know the narrative’s around two first-round picks but I think we just wait during the trade period to see what we’d ultimately be offered. Dan obviously has to give us an indication as to where he might be willing to go, but at the same time, whichever club he may choose has got to be able to satisfy us. Dan knows that, that’s been really to Dan over the last couple of days. If it’s not right for the footy club, this just won’t happen.”
Falling behind in the race for Giants free agent Harry Perryman
“That’s an interesting one, that’s still to play out. I’m not necessarily sure we’re at the front of the queue there. It’s not to say we haven’t tried with both (Perryman and Isaac Cumming, who’s chosen Adelaide). We’re happy t0 put ourselves out there and give it a crack. If we end at the front of the queue, great, Harry’s a good player.”
Negotiating a trade with Gold Coast for Jack Lukosius
“The challenge now is to work with the Gold Coast in order to make that potentially happen. We haven’t engaged overly much with the Gold Coast as to what they might want. There’s still a week and a half to go before the trade period and we’ll get a better sense of that over that point in time. But we are ultimately pleased that Jack wants to land here. He’s a good player who we’ve obviously been tracking for a decent period of time. If we can get him to our club, I’m sure that we’ll look at our list and feel like we’ll be better again in 2025. I think Jack’s a forward, so for him to come into our club, I think that’s what we’re thinking. But there’s a fair bit of water still to go under the bridge to make that deal happen.”
Ivan Soldo’s trade request to Victoria
“I’m not sure it’ll be straightforward. Ivan understands that the deal has to be right for the club if he was to go out. He’s certainly suggested to us that he would like to get back to Victoria. But whether that can happen or not and what the deal is worth … I don’t want to over commit to something right now that when there’s just so much of a trade period to play out. And ultimately, even though the Soldo deal may be us and just one other club, they’re also linked that it would be premature for me to talk about what we’re looking for there.”
Interest in Collingwood small forward Joe Richards
“I think it’s reasonable to say we have interest in Joe Richards. He’s a player that fits a need for us that we’d like to add some depth in that front half, the small forward type crew is something that we would like to add something to. We’ve got a couple of young guys who are progressing, but equally, when we missed Sam Powell-Pepper this year, we felt like we lost a little bit there.”
Ollie Lord’s future amid interest from Victorian club’s
“There was nothing in Ollie Lord’s exit interview which would suggest that he’s looking at playing his footy elsewhere next year. So I would suggest that right now that Ollie is at our club moving forward.”
Travis Boak’s future
“What we have both done is keep that issue down the track. We’re not looking for Travis to make a decision in the next period of time. Equally we made sure that he was aware that we needed to look at what else was coming in from our list perspective. I think Travis should get a massive tick for the fact that he played better footy this year than what he did last year and. On that basis, we’ll work with Travis over the next week or two to have a look what 2025 looks like — whether that be on field or what his options are away from the game.”
West Coast’s interest in Tom Clurey
“He’s been fantastic servant of ours, we would be open to Tom finding a new home. That’s not to suggest that he’s not valued here. If it doesn’t work (a trade to another club), he’ll provide a great experience to an SANFL team which really, really struggled this year.”
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