Port Adelaide chalked up just its fifth win last week, and its chances of seeing any September action are rated as slim.
The Power will tackle finals contenders St Kilda, Collingwood, Carlton and North Melbourne in the coming weeks, and Salopek said the team was determined to have its say on just who finishes inside the top eight.
"We’ve obviously set the agenda for the next six weeks after last week’s performance," Salopek said.
"We’ll definitely go into the next six weeks with a mindset to shape the finals ourselves. We play some teams that can make the finals in North Melbourne, Collingwood and Carlton in the next few weeks, so we’ll be going into the next six weeks pretty positive and to stamp ourselves on the finals series even though we’re not going to be there.
"We’ll really try to get a grip on things and strive to make sure we’re heading in the right direction for next year."
But first, the Power must overcome 14th-placed Fremantle, who also recorded a win last week.
The two clubs have enjoyed some bruising battles over the years and Salopek said he was expecting no different this week.
"Fremantle is just one of those teams we match up well against and have a good rivalry with. It’s not really anything different [about them]. We’ll just enjoy the physical contest because they do like to play that way and that’s the way we like to play too.
"Every club has those teams they have rivalries with. I suppose the blue we had in pre-season with Fremantle a few years ago probably highlighted it.
"It’s just one of those teams we don’t get along well with and it’s always a great game, competition and hit-out when we do play.
"And we’re just looking forward to hopefully stringing two games together for the first time in a long while."
The Power could regain four key players for Sunday’s clash with Fremantle at AAMI Stadium with Peter Burgoyne, Travis Boak, Toby Thurstans and Matt Thomas all completing Wednesday’s main session.
There will also be a bit of extra spice between the two sides with Fremantle coach Mark Harvey taking exception to Mark Williams’ potential interest in out-of-contract midfielder Josh Carr.
Carr was a premiership player with Port Adelaide in 2004, but Salopek wasn’t sure there was a place in the Power midfield for the West Australian hard nut.
"Josh is a good guy and I consider him as a friend of mine," Salopek said.
"Our midfield at the moment has got a good structure and is playing very, very well. I suppose it’s the coaches' decision to see whether Josh can fit into our midfield at the moment.
"We’ve got some terrific young guys doing the role he did when he was a premiership player with us. We’ve got Adam Thomson, Tom Logan and Greg Bentley that can do that role as well. It’s up to the coaches and that’s why they get paid the big bucks."
