ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson says Port Adelaide should "certainly" be speaking to his assistants Dean Bailey and Mark Bickley about the now-vacant senior role at the Power.

After Hawthorn ruckman David Hale recommended Hawks' assistants Adam Simpson and Leon Cameron for the position on Monday, Sanderson delivered a glowing assessment of his own assistant coaches after Matthew Primus stepped down as the Power's senior coach on Monday.

Garry Hocking was made the interim coach, but has said he's unsure of whether he wants the job next year.

Sanderson said both Bailey and Bickley would make terrific senior coaches of the cross-town club.

"If I was Port Adelaide I would certainly talk to them," Sanderson said.

"Mark Bickley would be a great senior coach, I really believe that. I know 'Bails' has done it before and he'd be fantastic in a senior coaching role again.

"Those two guys in particular have been great for me."

Sanderson didn't know whether Bailey had intentions to apply for the position, claiming the former Melbourne coach was happy at West Lakes.

Bickley held the caretaker role at Adelaide at the end of last season when Neil Craig quit after a 103-point loss to St Kilda in round 18, and went on to win three of the Crows' remaining six games.

He said he wanted the permanent job before the club elected to go with Sanderson.

Bickley currently looks after Adelaide's forward line, and Sanderson said the two-time premiership captain had what it took to excel as a senior coach.

"He sees the game so well, obviously he's seen it from every side," he said.

"You look at our attack this year, I think we're ranked number two in the competition for our attack.

"His relationship with players is fantastic. What he's done this year with (Kurt) Tippett and (Taylor) Walker and (Jason) Porplyzia and those guys has just been fantastic, and he just knows the game."

But while he endorsed the pair for the Power's top coaching job, Sanderson conceded he would hate to lose either of them given their importance to Adelaide's success.

"I love what they're doing for us here and we've got a great little team … but at the same time you'd love to see them go on and become senior coaches," he said.

Whoever the Power decide to appoint as senior coach for 2013, Sanderson spruiked the benefits of having a senior assistant as he has in Bailey.

"'Bails' has been great for me, he's made my job a lot easier at times," Sanderson said.

"Sometimes when I'm really positive he's telling me what can go wrong, and sometimes when I'm really negative he's looking at the bright side.

"He just helps me with the balance. He's been through a lot of things obviously as a senior coach, so he prepares me for what might be ahead."

Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.