Kane Cornes has declared Connor Rozee will captain Port Adelaide next year.
Rozee, who will be 24 years of age by the time the 2024 season rolls around, isn’t in the 2022 leadership group.
Tom Jonas is leading the Power and has held that role since 2019, with Ollie Wines and Darcy Byrne-Jones as his deputies this year.
But club great Cornes was bullish that Rozee is set to take the leadership in what will be his sixth year in the AFL.
“Connor Rozee will be captain next year,” he told SEN’s Sportsday.
“Write that down, April 3, Connor Rozee will captain Port Adelaide next year.”
Rozee enjoyed a breakout season last year when blooded in the midfield but has taken his game to another level in 2023. The Port Adelaide star has developed into one of the competition’s most dynamic players and would be one of only a few midfielders to average a goal a game.
Cornes’ belief comes after waning confidence in Jonas. The 32-year-old key defender has looked off the pace to start 2023 and Port Adelaide’s defence is the worst in the competition after three rounds.
Cornes suggested his former teammate is beginning to pose a problem for his club over the weekend.
“Tom Jonas is really down on form, the captain,” he told AFL Media’s The Round So Far.
“There’s a bit of an elephant in the room with what to do with him as skipper. Their defensive structure is all at sea.”
But Rozee taking over from Jonas might not be the only significant change to happen at Alberton in the next 12 months. Ken Hinkley, in his final contract year, is facing an uphill battle to win an extension and certainly won’t be aided by a loss to cross-town rivals Adelaide in Showdown 53.
Cornes holds his original view that Hinkley won’t be coaching next year, but doesn’t believe the pressure should ramp up on his former coach just yet.
“If you had of asked me at the start of the year will Ken Hinkley be coaching next year, I would have said no because something extraordinary would have had to have happened,” he told Sportsday.
“None of this is news to me. I’m disappointed in the way they’ve defended, their draw is really difficult… is there anything to gain, though, by putting the pressure on him now?
“It had to be a Grand Final (for Hinkley to keep his job). He’s been to prelim finals, two in a row, and that wasn’t enough.
“After 11 years, I think even he would have said a lot’s going to have to go right for me to be here next year.”
The next two months are set to be telling for Hinkley’s long-term prospects, playing six teams currently in the top eight in the next eight weeks.
Hinkley has coached Port a total of 216 times since 2013, recording a win percentage of 58.8 per cent.