Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley will step aside from his role at the conclusion of the 2025 season, with assistant Josh Carr to be appointed senior coach in his place.
Power players and staff were informed of Hinkley's decision to step aside and venture into the coaching handover, with the club announcing the change on Wednesday morning.
The change will see Hinkley end his tenure as coach after 13 seasons at Alberton, with 2025 to be his farewell campaign with the South Australian club.
Hinkley was due to see his contract expire this year, with the Power now moving to appoint Carr as his eventual successor.
โI've enjoyed open dialogue with the club for some time now in regards to this being my final season in charge,โ Hinkley said in a club statement.
โI, along with our leaders at the club, always have an eye for the future and as I've been saying for the last year, Josh Carr is absolutely the best person to take over as senior coach at the right time.
โI still have a burning desire to lead this club in 2025. I'm fresh and recharged and have the privilege of leading a very driven playing and coaching group.
โBut come the end of the season, it will be time to hand the baton to Josh who would have experienced a further 12 months' growth as a senior assistant. Without question, Josh will be ready to coach in his own right.โ
Carr has signed a three-year deal with the Power.
โWhen we reappointed Ken in 2023, we were also focused on the future,โ chairman David Koch said.
โAt that time, the club's Board challenged CEO Matthew Richardson, GM โ Football Chris Davies and the football department to ensure we had a viable internal candidate to be our next senior coach, whenever that time came. Good organisations are always planning for the future and ensuring they have the best people.
โAs an organisation, we support the growth and development of our people to ensure our organisation continues to grow and prosper. Whether it be our chief executive, our head of high performance, or our next senior coach.
โThe discussion with Josh at the end of 2023 was that we believed he had the right attributes to be an AFL senior coach in the future and hopefully the senior coach of Port Adelaide, and we wanted to continue to support that path for him.
โAcross the last 18 months we've seen Josh continue to grow and develop and believe he is perfectly positioned to lead our club in his own right in 2026.
โWe're delighted to confirm this transition is now officially in place, with Josh now formally contracted as Port Adelaide senior coach from 2026 and beyond.โ
Hinkley has recorded 165 wins from his 274 games as coach, a win rate of 60.22 per cent.
The Port Adelaide coach has led the club to finals in seven seasons, managing six wins and nine losses in September.
Should the Power fall short of the top eight this year, Hinkley's final game as coach would likely come in Round 24 against Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval.
