MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says he can't wait to take on Port Adelaide, the club he was an assistant coach at from 2002-07, when the Demons venture to AAMI Stadium this Saturday.

Bailey will coach against Port Adelaide for the first time this season, as Melbourne has yet to play the Power in 2008.

"It'll be exciting – there's no doubt about that," Bailey said from the Junction Oval on Tuesday.

"I know their players very well and their structures and setups, so they'll probably change a few things I would think from what they had last year, knowing that I've got a reasonable idea of how they perform.

"Having said that, the game's about the players and they determine the outcome of the game. I hope it's an exciting game and we both attack. If it's a high-scoring game, it'll be great to watch.

"We hope to be the ones in front at the end."

After being involved in Port Adelaide's inaugural premiership in 2004 and its grand final campaign last year, Bailey said there were several factors why the Power has slipped this season.

"Without knowing the insides of what's gone on there, at the end of the day, they've been hit with some injuries and with that comes a drop in confidence and form and they've lost a lot of close games and the previous year they won them," Bailey said.

"There's the analysis in a nutshell. You could argue that in patches during the year, they've played very well and I'd expect them to be very competitive this week, at home.

"I don't think they'd want to lose to the bottom team and I think there is a fair bit of fight still there from 'Choco' [Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams] and the rest of the guys I know there.

“We'll be going over there and it'd be great for us to win – no doubt."

Meanwhile, Bailey said ex-Crow ruckman and first-year Demon John Meesen is in the mix for a call-up, after his impressive form with Sandringham last weekend and with Paul Johnson (hip) out for the rest of the season and Jeff White (knee) in doubt.