Carlile, who celebrates his 26th birthday on Tuesday, was dropped to the SANFL ahead of the club's round 12 clash against the Western Bulldogs in 2012, but has made significant ground since.
He signed a four-year deal with the Power earlier in the season and has been in terrific form in defence.
Power star Hamish Hartlett said Carlile's leadership, along with that of unheralded defender Tom Jonas and Campbell Heath would be vital to ensuring the club handles Trengove's injury.
"It's a pretty big blow for us down back, he brings a lot of leadership as well as being a great player," Hartlett said of Trengove.
"Alipate Carlile is playing some great footy at the moment so his leadership is going to have to step up a little bit which we expected anyway.
"Tommy Jonas and Campbell Heath have shown great leadership back there as well.
"Cam O'Shea and Tommy Jonas will probably have to play a bit taller, but they've done jobs on talls in the last few weeks so that hopefully won't be too much of an issue for us.
"We've got plenty of faith in the guys back there that we'll be able to cover him."
Hartlett also said his side would look to "tweak" its pre-game preparation in order to curb the club's slow starts.
Port Adelaide has trailed at quarter time in three games of its five games.
As well as trailing Adelaide by more than five goals in round three, the Power's lethargic start offered West Coast countless opportunities to put last Saturday night's game beyond reach.
With four emotion-charged lead-ins already this season – round one, the John McCarthy tribute game, Showdown XXXIV and Anzac Day - Hartlett said his side might need to take a more subdued approach to ensure players switched on from the opening bounce.
"Kenny's (coach Ken Hinkley) already touched on it that we can't afford to keep giving up these slow starts," he said.
"We probably can't put a finger on [why it's happening] exactly, but there has been a few disruptions to our preparations before the game.
"Obviously the ANZAC Day stuff, I think we had J-Mac round two, there was a bit of stuff before round one too.
"Whether that has something to do with it we're not sure, but we might have to tweak a few things here or there just to freshen ourselves up."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
