The Power were surprise winners on Saturday night at Subiaco Oval, but even more surprising was the ease with which they kicked eight goals to one in the third quarter to run away with a 78-point win.
Sumich said the result was disappointing - and nothing should be taken away from Port - but a draining week on the track with an eye on round one had contributed to West Coast’s poor performance.
“We’ve always stated that we are looking forward to round one and making sure that we have all our players right,” Sumich said from Subiaco Oval on Wednesday.
“That comes into a training phase. A lot of people don’t know, our training phases are up and down and we had a fairly solid week [leading into the Port game].
“This week will be virtually nothing, put the boots on and run out there. We might up [the training load] a little bit the following week and then bring it down leading into the season.”
Also contributing to West Coast’s loss was a steady stream of turnovers that led to 11 Port Adelaide goals.
Sumich said West Coast’s young players would still be encouraged to take tough options despite Saturday night’s result.
Daniel Kerr (calf) and Matt Priddis (knee) both missed the Port clash and only Kerr is likely to return to face the Blues on Saturday morning at Medibank Stadium.
“Priddis more than likely won’t play,” Sumich said. “He’s just got a little bit of a sore knee (and) we’re really taking care of him, making sure he’s right for the last one. There’s no doubt he could play this week.
“We’ll weigh up ‘Kerry’. He’s pulled up a little bit sore from the weekend [in the calf].
“We’ll see how he trains today and pulls up from that. If there’s any soreness after that or he doesn’t pull up that well he won’t play. We want to make sure he plays the last one at least.”
Shannon Hurn, Andrew Embley and Eric Mackenzie are all in line to face Carlton this week, but key players Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras are due for a rest.
Sumich said West Coast would use the NAB Challenge clash to test a host of youngsters, but their final match, scheduled for Visy Park in the last week of the NAB series, would feature a line-up as close to full strength as possible.
“I reckon the 24 or 26 that play we’ll probably pick our side for round one out of that,” Sumich said.
Subiaco Oval is unavailable for West Coast’s clash with Carlton with the venue pre-booked for two AC/DC concerts.
The Medibank Stadium fixture will begin at 10.30am on Saturday to avoid peak temperatures and allow Carlton to return to Melbourne in the afternoon.
