MATTHEW Primus would be keen to keep outgoing assistant Dean Laidley involved with the club next season if he was to prove successful in his bid to become Port Adelaide's senior coach.
Port Adelaide released a statement on Thursday confirming Laidley, who joined the club late last year, would return to Melbourne on a full-time basis at the end of the season.
Laidley, who is contracted for 2011, had been based in Adelaide while his family remained living in Victoria.
Family is believed to be behind Laidley's return across the border, with Port confirming it was for "personal reasons".
Port has floated the idea of keeping the former North Melbourne coach on the books as a Melbourne-based consultant, however Primus said it was impossible for the club to talk about a possible role for Laidley until a senior coach had been appointed.
"It would have been great to have Dean's experience here every day, but there are family reasons for him and that comes first before anything," the caretaker coach said on Friday.
"He's going to be based in Melbourne, so we'll try and keep him having some involvement with the club, but he's got to sort out a few off-field issues first.
"We'd love to have him here and he wants to be involved in footy. Hopefully that can be with us but I’d say he's got some bigger issues to sort out … and there's a fair bit to play out [at the club] before any of that can happen."
Regarded as a master tactician - especially on match day - Laidley was former Power coach Mark Williams' right-hand man earlier this year and has played a significant role sitting alongside Primus.
Primus said it was disappointing to lose someone with Laidley's experience.
"Dean's given us a different insight as to how he sees us play and what our strengths are. He's certainly got some good ideas about how to read opposition teams and a different style of play," Primus said.
"He's got great experience that we haven't had in the box. The players have loved what Dean's brought to them. He's been a wealth of information for them, so he'll definitely be missed in whatever regard we have him in next year - if we do."
The Power have made two changes for their clash with bottom side West Coast at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, with defensive duo Paul Stewart and Nick Salter replacing Mitch Banner and Nathan Krakouer.
Krakouer has struggled since returning from a long layoff with osteitis pubis three weeks ago.
The out-of-contract defender has also been strongly linked to the Gold Coast Suns, but Primus denied that the ongoing speculation over the 22-year-old's future had anything to do with his omission from the team.
"Krak's groin is very sore and he's obviously not fit enough," Primus said.
"We thought if he was able to play some games and we could get some training into him that [his fitness] would increase, but his groins have got sorer and he hasn't been able to train during the week. It's a vicious cycle that we haven't been able to cut into."
Midfielders David Rodan and Robbie Gray both left the track early at training on Friday, but are considered certain starters against the Eagles.
