PORT Adelaide's Ken Hinkley will focus his energy on plotting a rise back up the ladder for the Power rather than his future as the coach enters his out-of-contract season.
Hinkley's current deal with the club expires at the end of 2023, with the Power pushing to return to the finals after last year's drop-off.
It will be Hinkley's 11th season in charge of the Power, having taken over the reins for the 2013 campaign, with the coach having nearly a 60 per cent winning rate across his career.
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Chairman David Koch has backed the Power to overcome their disappointing season last year, and Hinkley said the club is on the same page about how to handle his situation.
"What I do know is that both David and myself, and the club, are very strong on what this season needs to be. It needs to be concentrated on the season as a whole and make decisions at the end of that season," Hinkley told AFL.com.au.
"I'm confident that's the way the club feels about things, I'm confident that's the way I feel about it.
"That doesn't mean what the journey of the season provides makes it smoother or not, but the reality is I think we have some commitment to each other that good footy clubs just get through whatever has to happen and there's a time that we'll sit down and decide what's next."
Hinkley's side made back-to-back preliminary finals in 2020-21, winning the most collective games of any club across those two seasons, before falling out of the top eight last year after a 0-5 start to the campaign.
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The club faces a tough opening month of the fixture this year, with games against three of last year's preliminary finalists (Brisbane in round one, Collingwood in round two and Sydney in round four) but the Power have pieced together a talented group after a strong off-season of recruiting, with Hinkley calling it the strongest list he has had at his disposal.
"There'll still be pressure. Like everyone in our club, we're all striving to be the best we can be. And in AFL footy if you don't embrace the pressure part then you probably shouldn't start, because you know there's going to be pressure for everyone, whether that's me or the newest and freshest coach or the newest and youngest player or the oldest, more seasoned player," Hinkley said.
"I'm really keen to continue to be a coach and I'm really keen to continue to coach Port Adelaide. I feel like the group that's coming through is starting to make their own mark on Port Adelaide again now."
Hinkley's 10 seasons at the helm at Port Adelaide have seen the club emerge from financial struggles and on-field battles to be a challenger, with the coach confident in the Power's stability.
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"I've said this a couple of times publicly now but we're culturally a really good footy club. We get the environment, we get the scenarios, but we're not going to either overreact or blow the place up. I don't see what that can possibly achieve in doing that. The people are working well together," he said.
Port Adelaide will ramp up its preparations for the start of the season with a week in Perth, where it will play an unofficial match simulation against West Coast before facing Fremantle the following week in a practice game.
