HE'S BACK. For the first time since July 14 last year Warren Tredrea will return to captain his beloved Port Adelaide.

And for the first time in an even longer period, he'll be fully fit. While Tredrea is likely to play at full-forward and will need a few games to return to his damaging best, the imposing forward's mere presence is enough to warm the hearts of any Power fan.

Tredrea is just one of six players who will line-up for the Power on Saturday after missing last year's famous round 21 victory over Adelaide. In August 2006 it was the "pups" who did the job against their bitter rivals; now it's time for the team to give the Crows a taste of Port Adelaide at full-Power.

Showdown stalwart Darryl Wakelin has been recalled to the side while promising forward Greg Bentley comes in for his fifth AFL game.

Port Adelaide’s recent form: Beat Kangaroos by 18, beat Fremantle by 16, lost to Fremantle by 79, beat Adelaide by 14, lost to Collingwood by 2.

Recent results against Adelaide: Round 21, 2006, Port Adelaide 14.11 (95) d Adelaide 11.15 (81) Round 6, 2006, Adelaide 15.13 (103) d Port Adelaide 8.5 (53) Semi-final 2005, Adelaide 18.15 (123) d Port Adelaide 5.10 (40) Round 20, 2005, Adelaide 13.10 (88) d Port Adelaide 12.9 (81) Round 22, 2004, Port Adelaide 12.13 (85) d Adelaide 9.6 (60).

Strengths: Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley last week identified Port Adelaide’s speedy on-ball brigade as the difference between the two sides. The Burgoyne brothers, with Danyle Pearce, the underrated Steve Salopek, Kane Cornes and the improving Jacob Surjan were simply too good for the Kangaroos. The Crows last week showed they can combat teams possessing great speed, but the Power midfield will pose an even bigger challenge for them, especially without tagger Robert Shirley and quick defender Graham Johncock. Salopek, Pearce and Kane Cornes were all amongst the Power’s best in the club’s famous underdog victory over the Crows last season.

Potential weaknesses: The Power players will obviously be excited to welcome back Tredrea, but Port Adelaide will have to be mindful of being too Tredrea wary. Port Adelaide had 37 scoring shots last week, with an even contribution from its players. Brett Ebert has been in sparkling form, as has Damon White despite a quiet game against the Kangaroos. Although the Power is a better team with Tredrea in it, the players who have performed in his absence need to continue presenting and providing their midfielders with strong targets.

They’re sweating on: Making the most of its opportunities. The game against the Kangaroos could have been over at half-time, but the Power booted five behinds before registering its first major through Brett Ebert. The Kangas had 14 fewer inside-50ms than the Power, but still managed to get within a kick in the dying minutes. Power fans will recall that their team came from behind to defeat the Crows in round 21 last season, but it’s a position Port Adelaide would rather not find itself in again.

The Power will also be hoping their tough pre-season has given the players enough legs to run out an entire game, resting up forward rather than on the bench. The Port Adelaide midfield is super-quick, but it's depth and fitness will be tested in warm conditions against the Crows who will field 12 players capable of going on-ball.Dangermen: Peter Burgoyne: Burgoyne didn’t look as though he’d missed nine minutes of football let alone nine months when he dominated against the Kangaroos last week, racking up a game-high 28 possessions. The smooth midfielder did as he pleased, combing beautifully with brother Shaun to set up a number of Port Adelaide forward thrusts as well as slotting through two goals of his own.

Adelaide, without tagger Robert Shirley, will be limited in defensiveoptions and like the Kangaroos will probably favour stopping theAll-Australian Shaun ahead of Peter Burgoyne. Look for Peter to be in the leading possession winners again this week.

Brett Ebert was unstoppable again last week and easily could'vebagged seven goals. In the end he finished with five and the Kangaroos were at a loss as to how to stop him. Ebert kicked three goals against Adelaide in Showdown XXI last season, but will come up against a different opponent with Graham Johncock out injured. But if the ball continues to be delivered lace-out by the Burgoyne boys and Nathan Krakouer, it won't matter who stands Ebert; no one will be able to stop him.

Chad Cornes has been a little quiet by his standards in the first twogames of the season but the gutsy utility always saves his best for the Showdown. It was Cornes who single-handedly won the game for Port Adelaide in round 21 last year with a passionate performance that resulted in his first Showdown Medal. Now cast as a defender, Cornes is likely to be given the important job of manning the in-form Nathan Bock. Unhappy with his job on Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich in round one, Cornes will be out to blanket Bock and generate some drive off of half-back.

It’s not generally known … Dom Cassisi is ranked second in the AFL’s tackle count for 2007 with 15.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.