Ken Hinkley is not in any rush to disclose any information and talk about his contract as head coach with the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Hinkley's contract finishes at the end of the season, with the head coach not willingly talking about further contract negotiations and coaching opportunities. Hinkley remains tight-lipped, stating that his "sole focus" is on the team and their performance overall, with a pre-season agreement with the club hierarchy that will see discussions of contracts held off until August.
"I have got a football club and we have got a football team that we're really focused on. And our team will stay focused on that and we won't let any distractions get in our way," Hinkley said to media on Friday.
"We have been really clear right from the start, from the board right through to myself, that any individual at our footy club will stay focused on the job at hand. That is my sole responsibility and I won't buy into any other conversations around what may or may not happen.
"I have got a sole focus on the performance of this team ... the dangers with getting distracted in that are not something I'm going to entertain.
"The only distraction could be if we didn't make this clear and we have made it really clear."
The discussion was influenced by Damien Hardwick stepping down from his position as coach at Richmond and Alastair Clarkson leaving North Melbourne to focus on his mental and physical wellbeing.
Many are shocked by Hardwicks departure, Hinkley included, who joined Justin Longmuir in appealing to the AFL to raise the temporary cap placed on football clubs. The soft cap decrease has caused much debate and stress, with the AFL reducing the cap from $9.2 million to $6.95 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It is expected to rise to $7.2m next year.
Hinkley noted that the change in the cap has put added pressure on coaching staff and club, which could have been a potential factor as to why coaches are stepping down.
"It's 100 per cent real and that's why the coaching industry has been really strong on supporting the increases in soft cap," he said.
"It's clear to us that it's the biggest part of the industry that has been cut the most and it has not got anywhere near back to where it should be.
"And when you have the stresses that all staff - not just coaches, all staff - in the industry have to put up with and deal with, that becomes real. The AFL have have to sit up and take some notice. There's just too many things happening now that would suggest this is OK."
The Port Adelaide coach has lead the club for 11 seasons and guided them to third on the ladder, entering Sunday's clash against Richmond on a seven game winning streak.
The two teams will go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon at 1:10pm (AEDT) at the MCG.
