Steven Salopek Biography

Former Port midfielder Steven Salopek is hopeful that he will find another club before the Free Agency deadline on Friday.

I haven't actually met with anyone, I'm not sure what to think about that. It doesn't really faze me. I've got my objective and my goal just to obviously get myself into as best condition as I possibly can," Salopek said.

"It's been intriguing, although it's been pretty nerve wracking. It's also been pretty exciting because it is the unknown. Hopefully we can find somewhere."

Forgotten midfielder Steven Salopek quits Port Adelaide to explore free agency with three clubs said to be interested in his services.

"Sal wasn't getting any opportunities at Port so he wants to test the (free agency) market," Salopek's manager Bruce Kaider said.

"He believes he still has two to three years of good AFL football left in him and can contribute strongly with another club, so we're going to see what's available for him."

Port Adelaide football manager Peter Rohde says the switch of SANFL clubs, from Glenelg to Port Adelaide, by Steven Salopek highlights the difficulties the Power face without a reserves side.

"We fully understand that the SANFL clubs have their own agendas that they need to work to and sometimes they're slightly different to ours," Rohde said.

"We've had these issues before and it does highlight the issues we've got with the system. It's frustrating for everyone involved, but it's not a huge revelation."

SANFL club Glenelg agree to transfer Steven Salopek to the Port Adelaide Magpies after the Power midfielder struggled for opportunities at senior level with the Tigers.

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus reacts to onballer being dropped to Glenelg's reserves in the SANFL this weekend.

"We thought his form had been good the last three weeks," Primus said.

"So we were a bit shocked by it. We thought Steven's form was good enough to put him amongst our selection."

Steven Salopek and Jacob Surjan have been added to Port's leadership group, which is now nine-strong with captain Dom Cassisi leading the way.

"Surj [Surjan] has trained pretty well and I think the players have seen how hard he's worked to get over his [knee] injury. They also realise he's been a leader at the club before and value what he gives to the group," Power coach Matthew Primus said.

"Sal [Salopek] got some feedback as to why he didn't [get voted into the leadership group] earlier in the year and he's worked on that over the last four or five months. It was because of the player feedback he got [that] he was able to get back into the group."

Port Adelaide midfielder Steven Salopek will encourage any teammate targeted by Greater Western Sydney to knock back the offer and stick with the Power.

"There's an unknown factor about joining another club. You don't know what other clubs do and what they're like. You hear stories that, maybe, they aren't as friendly or don't have as nice an environment as what we've got here," Salopek said.

"That's the main thing I'll be saying to the players here, who might be lured purely for the money on offer at GWS."

Port Adelaide midfielder Steven Salopek has confirmed that he will be staying with the club until the end of 2012.

"We took plenty of time because this was really a family lifestyle decision for me and (wife) Alice and both our families," Salopek said.

"While it was a hard decision, we really like Adelaide and what we have here, and we love the players and staff at the club, so going home can wait until after football."

Power midfielder Steve Salopek has been booked in for shoulder surgery after dislocating his shoulder again and will miss the rest of the season. It will be his fourth shoulder reconstruction since joining the club.

Steve Salopek has laughed off suggestions from a TV show that he has bought a house on the Gold Coast and is set to walk out on the Power.

"I got a phone call from my sister on the Friday morning after [the show went to air] and she asked 'have you bought a house up on the Gold Coast?' and I said, 'not that I know of'," Salopek said.

"It would be nice to have a house up there, but it's not true at all and I don't know where the rumour came from."

Port Adelaide midfielders Shaun Burgoyne and Steven Salopek have undergone post-season surgery.

Burgoyne had corrective surgery to clean up cartilage damage in his left knee, which is expected to limit his pre-season training up until Christmas.

Salopek had reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder which he damaged in the round-seven match against North Melbourne.

Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams admitted Salopek might have been brought back too soon after dislocating his shoulder against North Melbourne in round seven.

"Sal is disappointed, but he actually understands. If you look at David Rodan a few weeks back, we dropped him and it doesn't mean we don't like him or that he's not part of our best 18, but we think it's what's best for him to get his mind right," Williams said on Friday.

"The shoulder injury does correlate to when his form has dropped down. Perhaps, the physical side was okay, but mentally he might not have felt as strong."

Port Adelaide players Steve Salopek and Kane Cornes might not be as badly injured as first thought.

Both players were initially thought to have suffered serious shoulder injuries against North Melbourne but are now expected to be sidelined for only one to three weeks.

Port Adelaide defender Steven Salopek leaves the field during a match against North Melbourne after sustaining a serious shoulder dislocation.