PORT Adelaide's Justin Westhoff says interim coach Garry Hocking would make a great full-time senior coach next year, despite the club's 72-point loss to  Hawthorn on Sunday.

Hocking was made interim coach last Monday, when Matthew Primus quit after he was told he would not coach the Power in 2013.

While the Power came out firing against the Hawks and led at the first change, they were blown away in the final term and the final margin displayed the gulf in class between the two sides.

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Yet Westhoff, who managed just one goal in Sunday's contest, said Hocking's  hardened approach to coaching would make him a great fit for the Power.

"It's an easy transition for him, he hasn't changed too much (from what he was doing prior to Primus' departure)," Westhoff said.

"All the guys love him, he speaks his mind, he's pretty honest and I think a lot of guys need that at the moment.

"He pretty much coaches the way he played, tough. As I said before he's honest with everyone and he doesn't cop anything from anyone.

"I think he could coach anywhere … the club's put a panel in place where I'm sure he'll come up for consideration with a lot of other coaches."

Regardless of who the club elects to appoint as senior coach next season, Westhoff said the foundations had already been laid for a quick turnaround.

While some have speculated it would likely take several seasons for the club to turn around its fortunes, spurred on by the feat of West Coast's 2011 top-four season after winning the wooden spoon in 2010, Westhoff said the Power would aim to play finals football next year.

"I think we've got everything in place that can turn the club around at the moment," Westhoff said.

"You don't want to be going in to saying that we want to play finals in two, three years; we want to be playing finals next year and that's a goal for us.

"I think we've got all the talent in place, all the coaching, the support staff, there's no doubt it's going to be hard … but all the things are there to turn it around.

"Go back to West Coast, finished on the bottom of the ladder and turned it around, so there's no reason why we can't."

Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.