AFL 2026: Ken Hinkley delivers unclear stance on vacant Carlton coaching role
The race for Carlton’s next coach has started and experienced mentor Ken Hinkley has been careful how he addresses speculation he could take on the role.
Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley refused to rule himself in or out of coaching Carlton, saying any coach would be compelled by the opportunity to lead the Blues.
Hinkley said he was “not prepared to go black and white” about his stance before gathering more information about the position.
The Carlton vacancy opened on Tuesday after Michael Voss resigned following round 9.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Hinkley wasn’t definitive in his position before trying to pass the torch onto former Sydney mentor John Longmire.
“Anyone would take the opportunity to, if you’re a coaching person, you take the opportunity to coach,” Hinkley told SEN.
“Now it’s harder for me to answer because people go straight away, ‘Oh he does want to coach Carlton or he doesn’t want to coach Carlton’.
“I’m not prepared to go black and white and say this … there’s a lot more facts you need to gather before you would make a decision around who you do and don’t want to coach.
“You’ve got to match up the people’s views that are involved, the selection criteria here. They’ve got to want the right coach, they’ve got to want the right person.
“My challenge is I am a much older person, at 59. The sense I would get is that this is a longish build for Carlton.
“Everyone is predicting a first-time coach. I would be fascinated if John Longmire wasn’t spoken about really deeply at Carlton because he’s such a good fit for cultural issues and he’s provided that at Sydney.”
Hinkley and Longmire are among the tried coaches, alongside Nathan Buckley and Adam Simpson.
Then there’s the untried coaches like interim Josh Fraser (Carlton), Ashley Hansen (Carlton), Daniel Giansiracusa (Hawthorn) and Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood).
Skipworth on Wednesday was backed by Collingwood senior coach Craig McRae, who declared the assistant as ready as any first-time coach could be.
“Just his strategy is really good, his people management is really good, the way he owns a room, he’s really well organised (and) he’s curious,” McRae said.
“He’s always bettering himself, constantly looking for a better way. He travels to better himself – all of these things.
“He’s got a lot of experience now and you can never be fully ready for this job unless you’ve done it before.
“But a lot of the stuff around you … based on what I see, Skip would be ready.”
Originally published as AFL 2026: Ken Hinkley delivers unclear stance on vacant Carlton coaching role
