FORMER state treasurer Kevin Foley is poised to lead the Port Adelaide Football Club out of its deepening crisis.

The long-standing Port supporter yesterday declared his readiness to replace his friend Brett Duncanson as the president of the Power.

Confirming the sacking of coach Matthew Primus yesterday, Mr Duncanson also announced he would stand down at Port's annual meeting in December.

By then, Mr Foley will have formed a team to take charge of the Power boardroom.

Rodney Eade is Port's front-runner for coach

He hopes to transform the Power's boardroom to be a replica of Eddie McGuire's ultra-successful presidency at Collingwood.

Mr Foley will carry the support of AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou.

The former deputy premier had been reluctant to be linked to the Port presidency while Mr Duncanson was in the chair. But yesterday he told The Advertiser he was prepared to take on the role.

"I would not rule it out. I would not rule out serving the club in some capacity in the future," he said.

"Right now, I'm feeling for Brett, who is a very close friend of mine. I feel very sorry for him today."

Mr Foley is the only obvious candidate for the presidency from outside the club. There is no successor on the present board, which includes Kevin Osborn, the deputy chairman of the SA Economic Development Board.

Mr Osborn joined the board last year amid the power play between Mr Duncanson and the SANFL, which owns the Power's AFL licence.

But he is unlikely to seek the presidency. Mr Foley's approval from the AFL - and strong link to Mr Demetriou - follows his success in negotiating a peace pact between the SANFL and SA Cricket Association to re-establish a partnership at Adelaide Oval.

Port's condition on and off the field before entering the new 50,000-seat Adelaide Oval in 2014 will be subject to much scrutiny after yesterday's dramatic events at Alberton.

Primus has left the club after being told he would not be coach next year.

Port chief executive Keith Thomas yesterday took issue with the debt-hit club being portrayed as in crisis.

"The temptation today will be to label the Port Adelaide Football Club as a club in crisis (but) I can categorically tell you that nothing could be further from the truth," Mr Thomas said.

"What is happening is that cool, calculated, well-informed decisions are being made to ensure the success of the club going forward. There is no crisis nor is everything broken at Port Adelaide.

"Far from it. The bottom line (is that) the Port Adelaide Football Club is at a moment where it has to get everything right.

"We are heading towards Adelaide Oval in 2014 with the expectation of arriving at that milestone in tremendous fighting shape both on field and off field.

"Every decision made today and to be made in the future months will be about fulfilling that requirement. Some decisions will be tough - and everyone associated with the club understands that."

The AFL last night re-iterated its commitment to having two SA-based teams - Adelaide and Port Adelaide. It wants AFL games at the new Adelaide Oval each weekend of the premiership season.

AFL acting chief executive Gillon McLachlan said last night: "It remains the clear position of the AFL Commission that the best model for the national competition is to have two strong, well-run clubs in SA, being the Crows and Port Adelaide."

Premier Jay Weatherill yesterday did not comment on whether Mr Foley would make a good replacement president. "This club has a fine history ... It will fight its way out," he said.

Port Adelaide yesterday appointed former Geelong captain Garry Hocking as caretaker coach this season.