Carr, 28, will be part of a near full-strength Power line-up to take on the Swans in Canberra on Sunday.
The gritty onballer missed Saturday’s hit-out against SANFL sides Sturt and the Port Adelaide Magpies after injuring his groin at training. But on Wednesday assistant coach Matthew Primus said the crowd favourite was fit and raring to go.
“Josh has got the all clear to play after getting through training today. It will be his first run in our colours for a number of years and the boys are looking forward to that,” Primus said.
“He’s had enough of running around ovals and he can’t wait to get out there and prove to everyone why we wanted to get him back.”
Carr will be one of several senior players eased back into the Port Adelaide side during the NAB Cup.
Primus said the pre-season competition would provide an opportunity for both young and old to work their way into some form heading into round one.
“We’ve got a few senior guys like Peter Burgoyne and Chad Cornes, who had injuries last year and we’re looking forward to them getting back out there,” Primus said.
“We’re looking for a bit from the guys that have impressed, like Nick Lower and Wade Thompson and also for guys like Troy Chaplin and Alipate Carlile to lift a little bit too.”
Swans coach Paul Roos has already declared the result of Sunday’s game as ‘irrelevant’ to his team, but Primus said it was a different story for the Power.
“Winning is pretty important for us and the idea that you want to win every game rings true at times,” Primus said.
“We’re going to play as good a team as we can, barring guys that are injured or ... just aren’t fit enough. We want to win this game and we think it will be a good test”.
Prized No.4 selection in 2008 NAB AFL Draft Hamish Hartlett is also in contention to make his Port Adelaide debut.
At training on Wednesday, the 18-year-old showed he had fully recovered from a post-season shoulder reconstruction with some solid attacks on the ball and the man.
“Hamish will come into calculations and we were disappointed he couldn’t play last week,” Primus said.
“Since Christmas, when he’s been able to do contact drills, he’s trained really well. He’s a beautiful, skilled player and we think he can play a little bit inside too.
“He’s a first-year player, so we’ll ease him into it, but we think he’s going to be a pretty good player for us in the years to come.”
Promising second-round draft-pick Jackson Trengove (knee) is unavailable, as is rookie Matthew Martin, who strained his AC joint in the game on Saturday.
The Power will name a 29-man squad on Thursday, which will be trimmed down closer to the game at Manuka Oval.
Dream Team watch – Josh Carr is rated a $331,300 midfielder in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.
