PORT Adelaide coach Matt Primus says he's confident defenders Jackson Trengove and Alipate Carlile will remain at the club beyond this season after making a "sales pitch" to the out-of-contract pair last week.

Trengove, 20, has put off contract talks with the Power and is weighing up a return to Victoria to be closer to his friends and family.

Primus Backs Youth Approach

Carlile, 24, has also told the club he's delayed re-signing for family reasons.

It's understood both players have attracted interest from several Melbourne-based clubs, including Richmond.

Carlile has repeatedly denied links to Greater Western Sydney, and Primus said it seemed unlikely the promising full-back would be lured to the Giants.

 "[GWS] is a long way from Wangaratta," Primus said on Thursday.

"They [Carlile and Trengove] both indicated it was a little bit of family reasons more so than anything else."

Port Adelaide has recorded only two wins this season and sits in last place on the AFL ladder.

The Power have also endured difficulty off the field, with the AFL required to step in and support the club to the tune of $9 million over the next three years, and chief executive Mark Haysman resigning alongside three board members.

Primus revealed he'd moved to reassure Carlile and Trengove of the club's future both on and off the field, detailing his plans for next season to the duo, including the proposed new structure of the coaching staff.

"It [being on the bottom of the ladder] is not an ideal situation to be talking to players in, but as long as they're assured of where we're going and also the importance of them [to the club] I think it holds us in pretty good stead," he said.

"We had a good chat, sat down with them and showed them where we're going over the next 12-18 months and what path we're heading down.

"They're continuing negotiations through their managers and [football manager] Peter Rohde. There were no assurances or signatures on the dotted lines yet, but we'd be hoping something would be coming soon."

Port Adelaide has a bye this weekend before coming up against one of only two teams the club has beaten this season, cross-town rivals Adelaide.

Carlile (hip) and retiring veteran Dean Brogan, who injured his calf at training last week, have already been ruled out of the clash, but forward Justin Westhoff (toe) should be available.

Midfielder Hamish Hartlett dislocated his shoulder for the second time in a month against Melbourne in Darwin on Saturday night.

Hartlett will have scans on the injury, but is expected to keep playing until the club's clash with Collingwood in round 20.

"Hamish is having scans today. If he hasn't done any more damage he'll keep playing, if he has he'll be booked in next week probably," Primus said.

"It's all about getting him prepared to start the pre-season. He had his first full pre-season last year, so to have another one under his belt would be great.

"We have to do it around then [after round 20] to make sure he's ready to go when we start back in late-October."

Primus has attracted criticism for the first time in his short coaching career following the club's sixth straight loss.

The Power are on track to record their worst-ever season, but Primus said his faith in the club's approach this year hadn't waivered.

"Our aim at the start of the year was to win as many games as we could to get into the finals, but also to play a lot of our younger players, give them experience and start to have a good look at our list," he said.

"In one area, we've been able to do that but for whatever reason that's made us finish down the bottom of the ladder where we are now.

"We don't want to finish the year on the bottom of the ladder. We're going to do everything we can to not do that, but we're not going to compromise the path we're going down with our youth.

"If we didn't do this, I couldn't look our supporters and members in the eye and say that [we've given ourselves the best chance to rebuild this football club to be a club that plays in finals in the next couple of years]."

Matt Primus will be on the Channel 9 Footy Show this evening - tune in from 9.30pm to see the coach as a special guest.

Katrina Gill covers Port Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill