POSSIBLE afternoon shower, with an estimated high of 18C and overnight low of 12C.
This early forecast for Saturday night might be the biggest hint today as to how Port Adelaide will shape its line-up, in particular its attack, for the AFL preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.
Many expect Port Adelaide to stay with the 23 who advanced Port Adelaide to consecutive preliminary finals by beating Geelong in the qualifying final at Adelaide Oval a fortnight ago.
This would leave Rising Star-nominated forward Mitch Georgiades on the outer, despite his reassuring run in the SANFL at the weekend after missing the 43-point win against Geelong with a left-hamstring concern.
But Port Adelaide forwards coach Nathan Bassett is not declaring a preference for the three talls of All-Australian Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall and back-up ruckman Peter Ladhams ahead of the four-man model that includes Georgiades.
"We can go both ways," Bassett said at Alberton on Monday morning.
"We will pick the best team available."
And which is it?
"I think I know which (model is best) ... (but) no (I won't say)," Bassett added.
"The great thing is we have really strong depth. There were some good performances (against Glenelg at Alberton Oval on Saturday when Georgiades, qualifying final medi-sub Sam Powell-Pepper, defenders Tom Clurey, Lachie Jones and vice-captain Hamish Hartlett and the versatile Sam Mayes and Boyd Woodcock all made impressions).
"Clearly, the AFL team performed well last time we played, so whoever plays we know we have good people to pick from."
Port Adelaide worked - by injury to Georgiades in the second half - both attacking models in the round 23 encounter with the Western Bulldogs at the Docklands last month. This leaves senior coach Ken Hinkley and his match committee invaluable detail to consider for the preliminary final selection meeting later this week, particularly in consideration of the Western Bulldogs' eagerness to load numbers in their defensive half.
"We have adjusted depending on who is available," said Bassett of a theme that challenged Port Adelaide through much of the second half of the home-and-away series while injuries mounted with small forwards.
"The great thing is what (each forward) is capable of doing. We have a whole team of quite talented forwards - we are developing into a strong forward line. And we will be capable of playing both ways. But we will pick the team best suited to winning."
The weather becomes a factor as much as the Western Bulldogs' tactics.
"Weather can (influence selection), because you want people who can pick the ball up off the ground and give it to their team-mates or kick a goal or get to the next contest if the conditions are compromised by weather," Bassett said.
"The Western Bulldogs are a good 'outnumber' team with terrific hands and shape around the contest. They are going to challenge you in terms of getting your hands on the footy to start with.
"(Their tactics with extra players in defence) do make it more challenging to score whenever there are more numbers in there. We will do our best to either mark it or bring it to ground and then try to keep it there and preferably kick some goals while we are there."
Port Adelaide will have two major training sessions this week - one at Alberton Oval on Tuesday and one at Adelaide Oval on Thursday - followed by the captain's run at Adelaide Oval on Friday.
The Saturday night preliminary final takes Port Adelaide back to the memories of last year's home clash with eventual premier Richmond that was decided by six points denying Port Adelaide its first AFL grand final appearance since 2007.
"If we play our best footy we know we are a very good chance of winning," Bassett said.
"I'm not sure much (lingers from last year) other than the players being through that experience. It is a knock-out game ... and preliminary finals are the scariest game of all for any player.
"The start is important and we have not been the best starting side. We did start well against Geelong. So the focus is on starting well by initially getting us involved in the contest because it does bring pressure ..."
The match begins at 7.10pm with crowd capacity increased to 26,500.
"It is great to have more people there," Bassett said. "The more we get there, the better for our footy club. From a pure football perspective we love as many people as we can get there."
