Clark and co-captain Jack Trengove, who are both on the comeback from foot injuries, will line up for the Demons' VFL affiliate Casey this weekend.
Clark will play a full match, and coach Mark Neeld told AFL.com.au a setback-free hitout would see him strongly in the frame to play his first senior game since his injury in round 13 last season.
However, Trengove will play only 50 per cent of the game and appears less likely to take on the Power.
"Our medical staff have been really strong in their projection from the day after Mitch had his foot reconstruction, that the aim was round one," Neeld said on Wednesday.
"We haven't deviated from the possibility of that happening.
"His final hurdle was to play in a hitout, and he'll do that on the weekend.
"He'll be full scale, go for your life.
"The club doctor is saying he's ready to go, so we'll let him go for the full game and he should be fine."
Trengove has missed a significant chunk of the pre-season with a stress fracture in his foot.
The midfielder has now recovered, but may need extra time to build the fitness levels required to run out a full AFL game.
"We'll have to make a call next week on whether or not he's done enough," Neeld said.
"But he's missed three months of pre-season training, and as much as we want to, it's very hard to make that up.
"I want to see how he goes for 50 per cent gametime this week, and how he pulls up.
"We know Jack has a tremendous level of endurance, but we need to make sure he's done enough work and enough training to succeed at AFL level, not go into the season a little bit sore or unable to run out a full game."
Dawes, who crossed from Collingwood in the off-season, missed the final two weeks of the Demons' NAB Cup campaign with hamstring tightness, but Neeld said his absence was mostly precautionary.
"That's us just trying to do the right thing by Chris, setting him up to succeed, not fail; sending him into the season completely injury free or as close to be free from soreness as possible," he said.
"We're expecting Chris to be available for selection."
Neeld said the team to face Port Adelaide would likely have six or more new faces after a third of the list was turned over in the off-season.
Mitch Clark is a forward in AFL Fantasy. He averaged 74.5 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy hub.
