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PORT Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says he has asked midfielder Travis Boak if he has decided on his future, but didn't get a definitive answer.
And the Power boss said he didn’t want the uncertainty to continue for much longer.
Boak went home to Victoria early last week to discus his future with his family and flew back to Adelaide on Monday morning.
The 23-year-old is extremely close to his mother and sisters, who live in the Geelong region, and has previously said their opinion would heavily influence his decision.
[ Related: Hartlett out for a month, Schulz improves ]
The Power remain confident that Boak will choose the club that drafted him over a Victorian side, but have admitted that as negotiations drag on, nervousness has crept in.
Primus said Boak was under no illusion as to how important his signature was to the club.
"He knows where I sit - we want him here and we need him here," he said.
"He's going to play an important part of our future so he's well aware of that.
"I've asked him 'Have you come up with a decision yet?' and he's really mulling it over with the family stuff.
"We want to give him his time to do that, but we also don't want to allow it to drag on for another 10 or 12 weeks."
Boak is one of a number of injured Power players, with key trio Hamish Hartlett, Jackson Trengove and Jay Schulz all to spend at least a month on the sidelines.
Hartlett tore his hamstring in the Power's loss to the Western Bulldogs, while Trengove will need surgery to repair a finger he dislocated against Gold Coast in round nine.
Primus said Schulz would miss four to six weeks after suffering internal bleeding in a clash with teammate Justin Westhoff on Sunday.
[ Related: Primus on AFL 360 ]
But the coach said the form of several players in the SANFL and the health of the rest of the list would allow them to pick up the slack left by the four key injuries.
Defender Alipate Carlile is likely to come back into selection consideration after being dropped last weekend because he wasn't fit enough.
Primus said Carlile hadn't met certain fitness standards and would spend time playing for South Adelaide in the SANFL.
He was amongst the Panthers' best in their win over Sturt last Saturday, racking up 20 disposals, eight marks and 14 rebound 50s.
"Apart from the guys who got injured on the weekend, our list is pretty healthy and we've got some guys coming back into some form, but also into some fitness," Primus said.
Carlile will get another chance to prove he's fit enough this weekend, with the Power having the bye.
Primus said last Sunday's loss to the Western Bulldogs had left "a sour taste" in his mouth and a few days' rest was needed to refresh the players.
Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
