Senior coach Mark Williams has so far opted to rest a number of key players in favour or getting more run and conditioning into their legs at training.
“I think what the coaches have wanted to do this pre-season, up until this stage, has worked,” Thurstans said of the 2007 Grand Finalists. “We got as far as we did last year because of our fitness and what we did last pre-season, so we’re trying to emulate that as best we can.
"Obviously we can’t get the kilometres into the guys’ legs if we keep playing everyone in the games, so by resting them on the weekends we’ve been able to get a bit more running in and, up until last week, that was the plan."
Now the Power have a new approach and are aiming to finish off the pre-season in winning style. Port is expected to welcome back a host of names for the NAB Challenge clash with Collingwood at MC Labour Park on Saturday, including All-Australians Chad Cornes, Brendon Lade and Warren Tredrea.
"Ideally you want to win every game. We’ll be disappointed if we don’t get at least one win, if not two, before round one,” Thurstans said. "We’re disappointed with losing the opening two games, don’t get us wrong. The guys have got that competitive edge and we want to go out and win regardless of who we’ve got on the park, but you have to put it in perspective."
At 27, Thurstans will be by far the oldest and most experienced member of Port Adelaide’s defence this season; that is, until 31-year-old vice-captain Michael Wilson recovers from a snapped achilles tendon. The Power forward-cum-defender played every game last season and knows that without Wilson and the retired Darryl Wakelin, his younger teammates will look to him to stand tall.
"Being one of the older guys now, I’ve got to try to direct a lot of the younger guys and instil the values of the club and the responsibilities a bit more,” Thurstans said. "I need to lead by example and I’d like to put my hand up to take a lot of the senior opposition players.
"These days you’ve got to try and take yourself out of your comfort zone and give yourself a bit more responsibility. If that means I’ll take a load off someone else’s shoulders, so they can do a better job, I’m happy with that."
Thurstans had four goals kicked on him by Barry Hall during the weekend's loss to Sydney. "Barry’s looking pretty fit and he’s obviously pretty strong," he said. "The Swans looked to go to him a fair bit during the game, especially in the first half. They had a full-strength side out there and I think Barry is unstoppable when they hit him lace-out and play their own game style."
With the prospect of substantial senior talent returning this week, and despite the lesson from Hall fresh in his mind, he remains positive as the Power fine tunes its preparation for season 2008.
"Now we want to get on a roll and win these next two games," Thurstans said. "We’re looking to work towards our goal of round one and that’s the big picture now. We’ll have a few senior guys back this week and we’ll look to get our game plan going again this week and get a bit of a run on."
