Rewritten contractual bonuses for premierships and grand final appearances punctuate the new four-year deal struck between Port Adelaide and coach Ken Hinkley on the eve of his third season at Alberton.
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One of the favourites for the 2015 flag, Port have extended their relationship with Hinkley by two years until the end of 2018, with the new agreement overriding his original four-year deal with the club.
The revised contract takes Hinkley, who applied but missed out on four senior coaching positions before landing with some initial reluctance at Port, from the bottom four of AFL coaches in terms of financial reward to the middle ranks.
He will receive significant incentives should Port remain a top four contender under his watch. Club chief Keith Thomas said the new deal reflected the changing face of Port from one of the bottom teams in the AFL and an off-field basket case to a genuine flag contender.
He said Hinkley's first deal, struck at the end of 2012, contained strong incentives around developing and building a successful list without considering bonuses for reaching grand finals.
However Thomas said Hinkley's contract extension was not focused exclusively on winning a second AFL premiership.
"This is about building for sustained success," he told Fairfax Media. "We are not about climbing the mountain and then falling off the perch.
"That happened to our club after our last premiership and it was very damaging for us as a club. We want to build a successful club in the long term and we have enormous faith in Ken and all of our key football pillars to achieve that.
"We are very pleased to have achieved a new long-term deal with Ken and very pleased that Ken and his family have committed to us and to staying in Adelaide. This is part of a systematic approach to locking in all the key elements of our football program and obviously Ken is at the forefront."
Over the moon Ken Hinkley has re- signed with us at
@PAFC until atleast end of 2018. The ultimate professional & a man of outstanding values — david koch (@kochie_online)
March 26, 2015
Port have signed captain Travis Boak on a five-year deal until the end of 2017 and fitness boss Darren Burgess on a long-term agreement midway through last season. Port have also secured Michael Voss as their midfield manager for four years along with director of coaching Shaun Hart.
List manager Jason Cripps and recruiting boss Geoff Parker have also committed to the club for at least the next four seasons.
