Vaunted Port Adelaide assistant coach Josh Carr has stated that while he withdrew from the race to fill Richmond's previously vacant head coaching role, he remained confident he would be "ready" when his opportunity arose.
However, the Port Adelaide premiership player contended that he would remain at Alberton even if another senior gig arose elsewhere in the competition.
Since hanging up the boots at the end of the 2010 season and bringing an end to a decorated 207-game career with both the Power and Dockers, the now-43-year-old has gotten his hands dirty in the coaching world, both at the SANFL and AFL.
After coaching North Adelaide to the SANFL flag in 2018, the highly-regarded Carr made tracks back west to take up an assistant role under Justin Longmuir at Cockburn.
However, in a mirror of his playing days, Carr was drawn back to Port Adelaide at the cessation of the 2022 season, taking a role alongside head coach Ken Hinkley.
Speaking publicly, Carr contended that it was this consistent shifting over state borders that saw him pull out of the Richmond race that was eventually won by Adem Yze.
“I was really happy with the conversations sitting down with Ken and the footy club, preparing for my future and just making sure I'm doing the right thing,” Carr was quoted by News Corp.
“I'd made two big moves, going to Perth and coming back.
“I have four kids that are at school and the whole thought process going into doing that again to a young family, I just felt I was in a really good position right now with Port.
“You've got to have a balance with family and football, and I thought the right balance was to stay here.
“If the opportunity comes up at the right time, I'll be ready for it."
With Hinkley inked on for the next two seasons, many outside of Port's inner sanctum see Carr as the natural successor to the role, including the master himself who pressed his support of a succession plan earlier this month.
"It would please me no end to see someone that I've worked with closely be given the opportunity to take over, it would be a great thing for our footy club, if at one stage, one day, Josh was to become a senior coach," Hinkley said of Carr, via The Age.
"He'd be a premiership player at our footy club and it'd be great for him to have that opportunity, as it would be for Chad (Cornes).
"I think it's always been an option for [the Power] when Josh came back to the club, and you know, I am 57. And I've been there a long time. So at some point, someone will replace Ken Hinkley at Port Adelaide and if that someone happened to be Josh Carr, I think it would be a bloody good decision.
"There's no doubt the club would be interested in Josh Carr, that would be no doubt. He's a fantastic person, and he's got great coaching credentials, he's coached his own club, he's won a premiership, he's been to Fremantle, he's come back to Port."
Carr and Hinkley will cap their pre-season program when Port Adelaide completes upcoming scratch matches against Adelaide and Fremantle before the end of February.
The Power's season proper wil commence on Sunday, March 17 when they play host to West Coast at the Adelaide Oval.
