Port Adelaide midfield coach Matthew Primus admits the Power have lost the core of their engine room in one fell swoop following Shaun Burgoyne's decision to quit the club.

Burgoyne joined his brother Peter and ruckman Brendon Lade in departing Alberton at the end of 2009, the latter two electing to retire before the former decided his future lay in Melbourne.

By contrast, Primus has elected to stay on as an assistant to senior coach Mark Williams for the next two years, saying the club's young list was a major factor in his decision.

But he conceded the size of the hole left by Lade and Burgoyne - widely regarded as one of the league's best ruck/rover combination over the past few years - was a vast one indeed.

"You lose a hell of a lot of experience and guys with great talent in that area who've known how to do it, day in day out whether they're being tagged or not," Primus said on Tuesday.

"So it's going to be a hole, but all of our players, especially the midfielders, know there's a great chance there and I think that's something to look forward to.

"I thought towards the end of this year (Travis) Boak went in there, (Hamish) Hartlett went in there and (Matthew) Broadbent went in there, so we think those guys are going to take a bit of time to get up to speed as good as those players were.

"But we think there's some real excitement there and a bit of freshness in what our on-ball group's like."

Primus described the shape of the Power's list as "exciting" after the trials of 2008 and 2009.

"I think the playing list we have is quite exciting," he said.

"We had a rocky path this year with quite a few things going on and I think we're going to be better for it in the next few years, so that was the major reason for staying."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP