PORT ADELAIDE caretaker coach Matthew Primus has confirmed he wants the job full-time.

In the wake of the Power parting ways with long-serving premiership coach Mark Williams last Friday, Primus was handed the job of overseeing the team in its final seven home-and-away games of the season.

The 35-year-old former ruckman, who has been an assistant coach at Port Adelaide since 2005, is adamant he’s ready to be Williams’ permanent replacement.

“I wouldn’t be putting my hand up for the next seven weeks if I didn’t think I was,” Primus said at his first press conference on Monday.

“It was fantastic the club offered me the role, and I think it’s a stepping stone towards being a senior coach in the future.”

While Primus has acknowledged a string of poor performances will damage his chances of getting the job on a long-term basis, he says it was “just too good an opportunity to knock back".

“I can put my foot forward and show what I’m about, and at the end of the day, what will happen in the next seven weeks will have a little bit to do with getting a senior coaching job.

“It can go against you, too, but you never know if you never have a crack at it.”

Primus won’t immediately make drastic changes to the makeup of the Port Adelaide team or the way it plays.

“We had our review a few weeks ago, and it was a pretty inclusive review where we all put our thoughts together,” he said.

“I had some strong thoughts on the way we should play, and in the last two weeks we’ve definitely trialled a few different things. I think that’s the way to go.

“There’s a couple of little things I’ll change, but you’d be crazy to flip the game plan on its head.

“We want to continue to move the ball quickly (and) we want to continue to be a contested football team.”

What both Port Adelaide and Primus need most is a win, and he’s hoping that will come against the high-flying Western Bulldogs in Darwin on Saturday night.

“The club’s lost eight in a row and obviously that’s unacceptable, so we need to find a win pretty soon,” Primus said.

“(In) saying that, we’re going to continue to give opportunities to … our younger players who are playing games at the moment, and there’ll be some calls made on what’s going to happen with the future of our list in the next seven weeks.

“Everyone’s on notice, from the coaching staff to the playing staff and medical staff, and that’s a pretty exciting thing.”

Primus paid tribute to the man he replaced, saying Williams always brought energy and enthusiasm to the club.

“It’ll be different without having the whirlwind come through,” he said of Williams.

“He’ll be missed, but time moves on and the footy club moves on.

“It’s exciting for me, the other coaches and the other players and all the staff at the club.”