Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has emerged as a “leading contender” to succeed Adam Simpson at West Coast in 2025.
Simpson and the Eagles “mutually agreed” to part ways and bring a mid-season conclusion to the 2018 AFL premiership coach’s 11-year tenure.
Inevitable speculation over who the Eagles will target has since swirled, with former West Coast teammates Dean Cox and Ashley Hansen, who are now assistants at Sydney and Carlton respectively, among the leading contenders linked to the job. Cox has already ruled himself out.
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Eagles interim Jarrad Schofield and current assistant Jaymie Graham’s names have also been mentioned in dispatches, while 7NEWS Perth’s Ryan Daniels added Brisbane footy boss Danny Daly to the conversation on Monday morning.
But Hinkley has now emerged after SEN’s Tim Gossage on Sunday declared the Power coach a frontrunner.
“I think Ken Hinkley will get the job,” Gossage said at the time.
“I think he’s the number one target. The shift has been significant in the last 48 hours.”
The Western Australian reporter has since softened his stance that Hinkley “will get” it, but remains steadfast that the Eagles are interested.
“(I’m) confident that he is at the top of the shopping list, (or) near the top of the shopping list,” Gossage said on Monday.
“You can’t come out and say, ‘He’s going to get the job’, because they’ve got to go through this massive process. But I do believe, of the coaches that are coaching (currently), his name, in the last 48 hours, has certainly soared into contention at West Coast.”
Hinkley is coaching in his 12th season at the Power and has won 60.63 per cent of his 254 games, without ever reaching a grand final.
His best chances were narrow preliminary final losses to Hawthorn in 2014 and Richmond in 2020, while Port also reached the penultimate game of the season in 2021 but were smashed by the Bulldogs.
His position at the Power has been heavily scrutinised over the past two years, but kept the footy world at bay with a top-four finish last year which earned him a contract extension that runs through until the end of next year.
But Hinkley’s side faltered in finals one again, bombing out in straight sets.
He has them in finals contention again in 2024, but it hasn’t slowed the calls for a potential transition to senior assistant Josh Carr to be fast-tracked.
Former West Coast goalkicker Scott Cummings said Eagles fans wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea of Hinkley taking over.
“I don’t think that’s going to warm the hearts of many Eagles supporters, to be honest with you,” he said.
Gossage said the Eagles could do worse than turn to Hinkley.
“I think if I was the West Coast Eagles supporters, your decision is: do you have the patience to wait five to seven years to, one, develop your list and then throw up a Hansen/Graham into the coaching fire?” he said on Monday morning.
“Or do you try and recalibrate quickly with a guy — albeit he hasn’t won a flag, and I’ve been a little bit critical of Ken and his lack of premiership success, but at the same time, I think there comes an end. I think he’s got something to offer.
“His name’s been mentioned in Tassie, his name’s been mentioned in other jobs, he’s good enough to get another job somewhere else.
“So, just in summary of all of that: in the last 48 hours I’ve received some information that Ken Hinkley is certainly on the West Coast Eagles’ shopping list as one of the leading contenders of those who are coaching at the moment.
“Clearly he has a contract at Port Adelaide, clearly they’re still in finals contention, clearly he’s not going to talk about it — but that handover with (Josh) Carr has to come eventually. Ken’s got to then think long-term and if, all of a sudden, he can get a five-year deal or a six-year deal, he stays in the (AFL) system.
“West Coast are certainly going to knock on the door, and (Eagles CEO) Don Pyke has lived in that state where Ken has been and they coached against each other (during Pyke’s time as Adelaide’s coach).”