Wednesday morning saw the news break that 2025 will be Ken Hinkley’s final year as the head coach of Port Adelaide.
Thirteen years with immense highs and lows will come to a close as Josh Carr is the incumbent man from 2026.
A succession plan has been declared and that makes this a pivotal year for Alberton. When done right succession plans can set clubs up for the next era of success. Done badly and it could jeopardise not only on-field performance but cause a rift in a playing list which sets a team back years.
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Paul Roos is the pinnacle of succession plans having set up both the Sydney Swans and Melbourne Demons for premiership success for the coaches that followed his time in the hot seat. In the case of the Swans they gave 13 months for Roos to prepare John Longmire to take his job.
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The open communication and strong relationship deemed mainly from Roos’ willingness to step aside as he wanted to prioritise his family. Succession plans can only be effective if the predecessor buys into the plan. Shared responsibility worked well for the Swans as it helped ease pressure on Longmire taking the lead role.
Of course Longmire had been an assistant for nine years under Roos and therefore the understanding between the two is unprecedented. This prevented mixed messaging or egos playing a factor inside the club.
Longmire went on to coach over 300 AFL games for Sydney including winning the 2012 premiership season in his very first season. Still to this day the move is celebrated as an administrative masterclass which set up the Swans for years.
Remember what I said about coaches not buying into succession plans? The most famous example of that is Collingwood in 2011 succeeding Mick Malthouse with Nathan Buckley. Malthouse wanted to focus on a back-to-back premiership tilt in 2011 and the tension Buckley’s appointment caused hurt the side at winning that second premiership.
The unwillingness to delay or change plans was a mistake made and then president Eddie McGuire’s continuous media statements and comments destabilised the club. They didn’t make the grand final again until 2018 and Buckley failed to claim that elusive premiership in his time as senior coach.
Returning to Port Adelaide this will be a pivotal moment for the club. Carr has worked with Hinkley in his earliest years as Port Adelaide coach and returned to the club in 2023 as midfield coach under Hinkley once again. The responsibility lies on Hinkley to be fully on board and support Carr with the transition.
This team has the potential to go deep into finals in 2025 so it’s important a balance is struck between helping Carr publicly form messages representing the squad and keeping stability in hopes of achieving the ultimate success.
Port Adelaide’s leadership must learn from Collingwood and be flexible about the duration of the succession period to ensure the future is secure for a team with a lot of potential. If done correctly a new voice in charge could help recharge the Power but if it fails could send them into a tailspin.