Port Adelaide and Ken Hinkley will wait until August to decide the senior coach's future at Alberton as he enters the final year of his contract with the Power.
2023 will be Hinkley's 11th season at the helm of the South Australian club, recording 131 wins from 223 games as coach to amass a win percentage of 58.75%.
The 56-year-old holds the unwanted record of most games coached at one club without a grand final appearance, however has managed three preliminary finals appearances since taking on the role.
Eight of Hinkley's 10 seasons in charge of the club have come with win rates above 50%, including campaigns with 78.95% and 75.00% in 2020 and 2021 respectively, earning a minor premiership in the former.
But a difficult 2022 season, where the club fell from second on the ladder to 11th due to a 10-11 record, coupled with an expiring contract has placed Hinkley in the limelight and needing to conjure the right results to likely see his tenure extended beyond this year.
Should a poor start to the season ensue, much like the Power's 0-5 run to commence 2022, the club's board isn't expected to part ways with their senior coach mid-season, with Hinkley revealing to The Age a decision won't be made until August.
"We've got a commitment to go to the end of the season, with David and the board and myself - and the whole footy department - on the same page,” Hinkley said.
"We'll get to August before decisions are made.
"You can ask anyone at our club and you'll get the same response.
"...We all understand a performance industry and we're not naive to that. But what we do know is that nothing's achieved by making silly decisions or crazy decisions. We'll prepare to get the season right, and really important to get the start of the season again right, and we'll get through the season and see what happens from there.
"But all I know is that as a club, I'm really proud of the fact that we're on the same page, that we know what we're doing. Eleventh year doesn't matter in some ways. The pressure comes from people outside and it comes on the coach, I get that. But our club knows what's coming and we also know how to handle it."
The Power will be eyeing a return to the premiership race a year on from their disappointing 10-win season, with new recruits Jason Horne-Francis and Junior Rioli sure to buoy their prospects.
Among the chasing pack that includes Carlton, St Kilda and the Gold Coast Suns, Port Adelaide will be looking to squeeze themselves into the top eight after a season away from the September action.
More than understanding the task at hand and the competition for finals spot, Hinkley believes his squad has what it takes to return to the top.
“We can be as good as anyone. I don't think there's any doubt about that. We had a really disappointing year last year from a performance point of view. The two years previous we were a really strong footy club, won a lot of games of footy, made two prelim finals, but that doesn't mean any guarantee you get back. Got to get the start right, I think that's the critical issue.
“We've just got our entire focus on trying to get our start to the season because we know last year at zero and five we were never going to recover, as much as we went 10 and seven the last 17 - zero and five puts you out of the game.
“What can we achieve? Who knows in a really tight, tough competition. You need a little bit of luck along the way. But I would imagine there's 10 or 12 teams today, maybe more that really think they can push up high in the ladder. We're one of those teams."
Port Adelaide will open their 2023 campaign against fellow premiership hopefuls Brisbane at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, March 18.
