WHEN Alan Richardson was offered the chance to coach St Kilda, there was, in reality, little chance of him being retained at Port Adelaide once Keith Thomas, David Koch and Ken Hinkley had given the blessing he sought.
It was a high-profile departure that left the Power with a difficult void to fill on the eve of its pre-season.
With the sheriff’s deputy given his own jurisdiction for 2014, senior coach Ken Hinkley continued to take charge of the football program at Alberton for weeks while Keith Thomas scoured the league for a replacement.
It was a phone call between Hinkley and old mate and former colleague at the Gold Coast Suns, Shaun Hart, that brought one of football’s most courageous warriors from the late nineties and early 2000s to South Australia’s oldest senior football club.
A Power player from the same era who warrants comparison is Michael Wilson.
And like Wilbur, Hart was (pun intended) the heart and soul of his club on the field.
He won three flags with the maroon, blue and gold in 2001, 2002 and 2003 before finding his way to the Suns in the earliest days of its establishment.
There he brought lessons learned in both life and football and became an integral part of the new franchise’s development program before rising to the role of NEAFL coach.
It was at Carrara that he met Hinkley - then a successful premiership assistant with Geelong and senior assistant to Guy McKenna - a person with whom he shares core footy philosophies.
He has followed Hinkley to Port Adelaide, from a franchise in an expansion market to a club in one of the game’s heartland states.
At a time where culture has been an integral part of Port Adelaide’s resurgent football program, any coach, player or staff member who signs on the dotted line of a Port Adelaide employment contract must buy into the philosophies espoused by the club’s leadership.
There is no fear of Hart not doing that, indeed, he bolsters the culture.
Upon his arrival, his approach to football has firmly aligned with the existing ethos in the rooms.
People make football clubs, that’s Hart’s approach, and it’s an approach that shines through in his words and actions.
While he replaces Richardson as the club’s director of coaching, he brings different qualities to the role which will help Port Adelaide’s football program take the next step.
Evolution is important in football clubs, important to ongoing success. So too is the stability offered by having the right people doing the right jobs.
Hart strikes as the right man for this job, and what he stands for will help Port Adelaide evolve into a football club that makes its community proud - and not just for on-field success. A club that does things differently, does them well, and does it for its people…
Matthew Agius: Welcome, Shaun. You’re a premiership hero with Brisbane - one of Port Adelaide’s biggest AFL rivals, particularly during your career - did you feel any apprehension coming to a club that I’m sure you and your old teammates didn’t think much of ten years ago?
Shaun Hart: I think the opportunity took over the reality that this is a club I was far from supporting years ago. The opportunity to work with the group here, work with Ken and to challenge myself personally out of a comfort zone I think I was in - my role at Gold Coast was by no means easy but I certainly believed I wanted to be challenged higher and have a greater influence in the game - caught my eye and once it became a realistic one I was really enthusiastic about pursuing it.
MA: You bring some unique qualities and personal skills and experiences to the role which will of course differ from those Alan Richardson brought 12 months ago. Is this the same role for all intents and purposes, or has it been tailored more to suit your style?
SH: I think it’s still very much about taking the burden off Ken and making sure he doesn’t get involved in things he doesn’t need to get involved in. We just want the coach to coach. He did so brilliantly in his first season and that’s partly due to the individual contact he had with players and the ability to stay, as I would say, ‘in the helicopter’ and see the big picture coaching the team. I think as a senior coach you can get caught up in a whole lot about a footy club, but if Ken can continue to keep his eyes on the real work he needs to do then that’s a good outcome. I think Alan did it effectively, and it remains a major part of my role that I need to do effectively.
The other parts of the role I think are really big are the effectiveness of the coaching group, the effectiveness of the message and the teaching of the game. Making sure that every part of those things is as good as it possibly can be - the very best AFL program we can create - is what I’m responsible for achieving.
MA: Gold Coast is a club designed to succeed - it’s been partly resourced by the AFL, it’s in a key growth market, everyone wants to see success, and it looks like it’s going to succeed sooner rather than later. What is it that was done well by the Suns, that you contributed to and, considering Ken Hinkley is also here from the Gold Coast, can you see being brought into the Port Adelaide environment, particularly with the development of younger players?
SH: I think they created a really good, values-based leadership model from the top down. Travis Auld as CEO was integral in developing that and I felt right from the beginning that a values-based and driven organisation was very important.
I find there’s a unique environment here at Port with our group. J-Mac is a standout obviously and to see the humility and application to the task at hand by these young men has really impressed me, and I think that’s come about through the circumstances they’ve been through. That’s been the most impressive part for me.
I think, culturally, Ken is very strong on certain things and it’s all about the way we look after people and treat people. That’s something that I’ve noticed right through the club and I’m really impressed by it.
The desire to be elite and to have elite habits is something that exists as well and goes right through the operation. At the Gold Coast it’s something we got to have a real say on initially. We found a culture and we found habits - as Travis Auld said we had a blank canvass to do what we wanted and put the culture we wanted in place at the start. Here that culture has evolved differently over time but the principles are still the same.
MA: You mentioned a few words like ‘people’ and ‘values’ there. Your reputation preceded you coming here as a very values and people-oriented individual and many would say values were what helped to turn Port Adelaide around on and off the footy field - the club is investing in its people and getting results. Can you elaborate on the importance of culture and people in a footy club in your eyes?
SH: I think the importance is all about trust and I think I shared in a recent interview the word ‘love’. It’s a strange word for footy clubs probably, but funnily enough, relationships depend on some level of trust and commitment to the people with you. That only comes about because of selfless character and selfless attitude. You’ll hear Ken talk about this as well.
When Jared Polec came to the club we talked about ‘tough love’ and that a characteristic of great organisations - they want people to reach their potential but it’s not an easy journey to have. There’s tough conversations to be had, hard work to be done and a constant driving of the habits the organisation wants its people to demonstrate. These things cause greatness to be possible, but even then you may fall short of what you’re hoping to achieve. I’ve learned these things help to drive an organisation from where it is to the highest point it can get to.
MA: In the infancy of your tenure here at Port Adelaide have you noticed a difference of playing and coaching culture, or is it all completely integrated? Is there in this coaching group something that stands out in the way business is gone about here in this organisation?
SH: I reckon there is some experience in the coaching group compared to some youthful enthusiasm and unison, drive and energy. That is a real fiery combination for good success. There’s some good wisdom that can be filtered through to the younger coaches and some real energy that can come to the older guys who have been around a bit and can be constantly re-energised by the new ideas and creative new ways of doing things. There’s a good combination within the coaching group, but it is still in need of development.
There’s plenty of synergy between our young and older guys in our coaching group and it’s down to the ability of our club, coaching and playing group to find the most cohesive way of bringing it together with the values of ‘selfless’, ‘team care’ and the character that we all display to each other on and off the field. The best thing about organisations I’ve been part of - the Lions were one of those for a number of years - was that every person felt needed, every person understood their job and there were tough conversations at times that needed to happen, but always an understanding that the organisation was about self improvement and taking care of people and making sure people are the best they can be.
MA: You mentioned messaging and ensuring everyone is on the same page, in many ways your role strikes as one of a primary communicator and consensus-builder. Is that your approach; to be very energetic and synergetic in embracing your job at the club and getting others involved too?
SH: I think so, but it’s not the start of anything, it’s just building on a foundation that’s already here. The reality is there’s a great foundation of the right things at Port Adelaide already here, and I’ve seen that in the early stages of being part of this football club. I want to add whatever I can to that. People see what people do and what they offer to each other whether that’s in administration and the crossover between that, the coaching group, and what we provide and do to support one another, or how we support the playing group and how they demonstrate the values of the club. I think there’s an enormous amount of importance on the little things, and getting the little things done well. I want to continue to live out those things and get influence from others into them. That’s what makes great trust and effectiveness in a club.
MA: Again you mentioned something that stands out to me, and that is demonstrating the importance you place on the values of the club. This is a club in South Australia that has a strong reputation and irrespective of whether you love or hate it, there’s an understanding of what Port Adelaide is about. I’m curious to know what your understanding of Port Adelaide is.
SH: It wasn’t until being here that I understood the depth of support people have for this club. I knew the history of the club in terms of age, but never the success it had on the field. I’ve learned how our supporters are dogged in their support of the club - they’ve done it their whole life and never changed, and never will. It’s an impression I think you can only get once you’ve experienced the club. From afar you say, ‘Well they’re all about themselves, it’s all Port Adelaide and nothing else,’ and perhaps that is the reality if you’re outside the club, but I think that simply comes down to the negatives you perceive when you’re outside an organisation.
The reality for me has been a wake-up call that you can’t judge anything until you’ve experienced it and Port Adelaide is completely different to any negative perceptions I’ve had about it.
It’s a place with people-focussed leadership and is really enjoyable to be part of.
MA: I might finish by asking you, what are really looking forward to in 2014?
SH: I think the challenge of continuing to help the whole club rise up and fulfil the potential in every person and bring that together. Our job as a football department is to make sure that happens for the coaching and playing group on game day. We really live for game day and that combat and the exhilaration of victory and the risks you take. While we live and prepare for that, I reckon what most rewards me in coaching is just seeing the improvement of people. That’s what I look forward to. Now I’m in this role, the improvement of coaches in their craft, of players and of the football team under Ken’s guidance will be really exciting.
I’m also incredibly excited that we’ve reached 40,000 members and are heading for 50,000 because I look at some other clubs and they’re just nowhere near. That’s brought about because there’s an established following of football people who recognise and can’t help talking about their love for Port Adelaide. I think there’s also a new breed of supporter who sees a club that is doing things for the right reasons and going about things the right way. Will that guarantee anything? No. But I think people gravitate towards that which speaks to them in their lives and understands we’re not just about winning premierships, but making our community proud. That’s a really big part of what our actions are demonstrating to our followers.
