GOLD Coast will head back to the drawing board in their search for a new coach following Ken Hinkley’s re-commitment to Port Adelaide.
The Suns were actively chasing Hinkley over the past few months despite being contracted to Port Adelaide for 2018, with the Power coach spending time as an assistant at the Suns from 2010 to 2012.
Hinkley’s decision to turn his back on the Suns follows Brad Scott’s decision to stay at North Melbourne despite strong interest from the Queensland club.
Former Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton says that missing out on Hinkley could prove to be a win in the long term, believing Hinkley wasn’t the ideal man to take over the position Rodney Eade held until late this year.
“I’m not sure he was the right person for Gold Coast anyway,” Brereton said on SEN radio on Monday.
“I think it was a shot in the dark to get him and I don’t think the Suns really thought they could land him.”
The Suns will now have to turn their attention to other candidates for the role such as assistant coaches Michael Voss (Port Adelaide) and Brett Ratten (Hawthorn) who previously coached Brisbane and Carlton respectively.
Swans’ assistant coach Stuart Dew is among others to have had a long apprenticeship in the assistant’s role, with Carlton’s John Barker also highly touted as a potential senior coach.
Melbourne assistant coach Jade Rawlings’ is also believed to be in the running for the Suns’ coaching position.
according to me 