GIFTED onballer Shaun Burgoyne seems set to captain Port Adelaide after Warren Tredrea yesterday relinquished the role.

Tredrea said he had given up his dream job of leading the Power to fully focus on his personal preparation for his closing AFL seasons.

The 29-year-old will leave the club's leadership group, to be decided next week, and his successor will be known around Christmas.

Burgoyne, 26, captained Port Adelaide last season during injury enforced absences of Tredrea and represents generational change for the Power.

His main captaincy rivals appear tainted by age — Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan will be 30 and 31 respectively next year. Cornes' younger brother Kane, 25, and Dom Cassisi, 26, were also mooted by Port coach Mark Williams yesterday as candidates.

Williams was approached by Tredrea last month when the forward told of his wish to stand down after a club-record 96 games as captain.

"The choice is to step out of the leadership group," Tredrea said yesterday.

"As a Port Adelaide boy from day one, it has been a dream and it has been an honour and something I will always cherish.

"(But) we have got a lot of younger guys who are definitely waiting in the wings for the opportunity to captain the club and I want to be around so I can help them in their early stages."

Tredrea, Port's acting captain in its 2004 premiership, intimated his vice-captain Burgoyne was his likely heir apparent. "There are a couple of guys who have really come a long way in their leadership and you don't have to be Einstein to work out who they are," he said.

AAP