Port Adelaide assistant coach Josh Carr has downplayed the possibility of taking over from Ken Hinkley as the club faces an uncertain future.
Fresh off a 79-point thumping, critics have come for Hinkley and whether he is the man to lead the proud club, despite being contracted until the end of 2025.
Carr - who played for the Power in its only AFL premiership in 2004 - has been touted as the likely replacement.
However, the former Port Adelaide player denied any succession plan exists and is solely focused on the 2024 campaign.
"There's always a process. I don't expect to walk into anything," Carr said on Monday.
"Ken comes into work every day and all he wants to do is make this club better. He's still going strong.
"We talk a lot. We get everything out on the table. As a close coaching group, you lean on each other, you challenge each other.
"I challenge Ken with a lot of things, he challenges me on a lot of things.
"We'll argue, but it comes from a place of care and respect, and we come out the other side better."
Speaking on Channel 9's Footy Classified,ย long-time journalist Caroline Wilson believes that Carr is "no certainty" to take over from Hinkley.
"If it continues to not be great, Ken could go at the end of the year," Wilson said.
"But the club will look at Josh Carr and outside the club as well and will go to market."
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has been flagged as a potential option if the club were to explore its options.
Following Saturday's loss to the Lions, Hinkley (and the coaching staff) were met with a chorus of boos from Power fans after the final siren.
As the club sits eighth on the ladder (8-6), the next month is crunch time for the club, starting with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium this weekend.
