PORT Adelaide could be interested in adding Dean Laidley to its football department, but will face an uphill battle given the club’s current financial state.

The former North Melbourne coach is regarded as a fine match-day coach and tactician, and his talents are believed to be in high demand.

Laidley will visit Alberton this week and Power coach Mark Williams will put aside the issues surrounding his own coaching future to sound out his plans.

“I said to Dean on Thursday, ‘listen mate, wait until we hear something [on my contract] before we decide what day you come, but it’s this week sometime,” Williams said.

“We’re into finding out what’s best, what others are doing and trying to lap that up as much as possible.”

But Williams was not hopeful that Laidley would become a permanent fixture at the club.

“I’m not sure [about getting Laidley to Alberton]. I think the West Coast has approached Dean and they’ve got money to burn,” he said.

The Port Adelaide coach has received a new two-year offer from the club after the board sat in a marathon nine-hour meeting on Monday.

Williams was adamant more senior coaches such as himself, Laidley and Collingwood’s Mick Malthouse still maintained an advantage over newcomers, despite the seeming shift toward youth in the coaching ranks.
 
“As a coach, I actually think you get better [with age],” he said.

“If I look back at when I got my first position at Glenelg … I was untried and had never done any coaching before. Gee whiz, you make a lot of mistakes along the way and at a professional club with huge turnover you don’t want to make those sorts of mistakes.

“The players get a lot of confidence out of someone who knows what they’re doing rather than practising on them, if you like.”