PORT Adelaide ruckman Paddy Ryder's highly anticipated return could be called off at the 11th hour if the Power have concerns about the hardness of the Optus Stadium playing surface.
The All-Australian big man has missed the past five games with Achilles soreness, but has been named to take on West Coast on Saturday.
Ryder travelled to Perth on Thursday ahead of his teammates, but Power coach Ken Hinkley said he wouldn't hesitate to rule him out if they believed the ground would aggravate his injury.
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"Paddy was probably nearly ready last week, so we've taken a conservative approach," Hinkley told reporters at Adelaide Airport on Friday.
"We understand the hardness of the deck is an issue, not just for us, but every team, particularly for the Western Australian teams that are playing there every week.
"There's injuries coming out of it and that's a significant issue, one that we had to consider really closely.
"If we get there tomorrow and we feel that there's any issue at all with Paddy, we won't take that risk because of the deck."
The Power aren't allowed to train at Optus Stadium and will instead have a walk around the ground on Friday afternoon.
They will have a training session at Leederville Oval on Friday.
"It's not the ideal preparation, but it's the preparation we deal with," Hinkley said.
Ryder won the Power's best and fairest last year and won All Australian honours after missing the 2016 campaign serving a suspension as part of the Essendon supplements saga.
The 30-year-old has had Achilles issues during his career, which flared up in the Power's round one win against Fremantle.
"He's ready to go, that's not the issue," Hinkley said.
"The only reason (he won't play) is a setback.
"We've got three weeks before our bye, we'd like to build him up into that, give him the bye off then he'll be right for the back half of the year."
Defender Tom Clurey and former Melbourne co-captain Jack Trengove are the travelling emergencies.
There was no room in the side for young gun Sam Powell-Pepper or experienced midfielder Tom Rockliff.
Powell-Pepper – who has missed the past three games – has been overlooked despite being available after serving a suspension for an off-field incident.
"We're managing him and getting him to the level we want," Hinkley said.
"He's missed a fair bit of footy and he's had a bit going on.
"Same with Rockliff, they've both missed a little bit of football, so we thought the smart thing to do was to give them the extra game in the SANFL, and hopefully they'll be ready for the Showdown next week."
Hinkley said forward Chad Wingard was a chance to return from a hamstring injury for next weekend's Showdown with Adelaide.
"It's not that bad a hamstring (injury), he's running already, so we're pretty positive about the outcome," Hinkley said.
"He's a chance for next week, but we won't risk him.
"I certainly can't sit here today and rule him out of the Showdown."
