Port Adelaide will field a largely different side to the one that just went down to Geelong last weekend when it takes on St Kilda in the NAB Challenge match at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.
The Power named a squad of 28 on Wednesday afternoon, opting to rest many of its experienced stars including vice-captains Chad Cornes, Brendon Lade and Michael Wilson, along with All Australians Kane Cornes and Shaun Burgoyne.
Also missing from the team that lost to Geelong in overtime in Darwin on Saturday night will be mobile key forward Damon White, who got a slight corked thigh last week but could have played if necessary.
The Power is not short of options to replace those six stars with Steven Salopek (calf), Daniel Motlop (omitted), Peter Burgoyne (illness), Jacob Surjan (hand) and Darryl Wakelin (rested) all back in the team.
Power football manager Peter Rohde said the extra-time match in abysmal conditions in Darwin on Saturday night was a major reason behind resting players.
“We were going to consider (resting players) anyway but when the game went so long and in such tough conditions it reinforced to us that we needed to rest some players this week,” he told PortAdelaideFC.com.au
“All the players we’re resting played the majority of the game and now having a six-day break... We also had five or so players we wanted to bring into the team.”
White’s absence, along with skipper and No. 1 forward Warren Tredrea being injured, means the Power will be reliant upon Ryan Willits and Adam Cockshell to be the key big men in the forward line.
Willits played three games at the end of last season, while Cockshell is in his first year at the club, and was the last player added to the Power’s 2007 list, when he was taken at the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft.
Teenage ruckman Jonathan Giles, who is in his second season at the club, looks likely to play in place of Lade as ruck support to Dean Brogan.
Josh Mahoney and Wakelin are the only members of the club’s extended leadership group expected to play on Friday night, meaning one is likely to fill the role of stand-in captain.
Rohde said the Power would have a team of 24 or 26 players on Friday night.
Tickets for the match which starts at 7pm will be available from the Members’ Information Centre on the evening of the game. Season ticket holders and AAMI Stadium members get in free. Other adults are $10, concession $5 and kids $2. All seating will be in the members’ area.
The Power’s 28-man squad (to be reduced to 24 or 26 by Friday) is as follows...
2 WAKELIN Darryl3 SALOPEK Steven
4 MOTLOP Daniel
6 THOMSON Adam
7 BURGOYNE Peter
9 SURJAN Jacob
10 BOAK Travis
11 WILLITS Ryan
12 LONIE Nathan
15 RODAN David
16 PEARCE Danyle
17 GRAY Robert
19 WILLIAMS Ryan
20 BROGAN Dean
22 MAHONEY Josh
23 SYMES Brad
25 CASSISI Domenic
26 LOWER Nick
28 THURSTANS Toby
29 KRAKOUER Nathan
30 CHAPLIN Troy
33 EBERT Brett
34 COCKSHELL Adam
36 PETTIGREW Michael
38 GILES Jonathan
39 WESTHOFF Justin
41 BENTLEY Greg
44 LOGAN Tom
