SCOTT Lycett has a plan. After almost three months on the injury list recuperating from shoulder surgery, the Port Adelaide lead ruckman has marked July 9 on his calendar for his earliest return to competitive football.

In the SANFL - Saturday, July 9 at Woodville Oval against Woodville-West Torrens.

"I'm underdone, so coming straight back to the AFL would be a tough ask for anyone after 12 weeks off," said Lycett who was injured in the round 4 clash with AFL premier Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.

"If I am in the SANFL for a week or two, I'll do whatever to get myself right and ready to go in the AFL.

"I feel pretty good at the moment. I have ramped up my training loads. The next couple of weeks are about doing match simulation at training and getting my body used to not running in a straight line. It's now about the footy fitness - that is the next stage and it cannot come quick enough."

All going to plan, Lycett could be back in AFL action - at the earliest - for Port Adelaide's round 20 clash with Collingwood at the MCG. He wants to be part of a team locking in a top-eight berth to September's AFL finals.

"Definitely," Lycett said of 12th-ranked Port Adelaide's finals aspirations. "All year we have been bullish about making finals after a (0-5) bad start. The last eight weeks (with a 6-2 record) we have been good, so we have to make sure we keep going with that form.

"We need to win a lot of games, but play as we did at the weekend (in beating Sydney), and we should be alright."

Lycett has significant rivalry for the lead ruck role developing at Alberton with the AFL debut this season of Sam Hayes, the successful conversion of key forward Jeremy Finlayson, the progress of 2021 draftee Dante Visentini and the arrival of East Fremantle ruckman Brynn Teakle in the recent mid-season rookie draft.

"It's good to have competition," Lycett said. "At the start of pre-season, it was just me and Sam Hayes. Now we have Dante and Teakle as well.

"And Jeremy has done a really good job. I'm stoked with what he has done so far.

"I think Teakle and I would work pretty well in the same team, so hopefully we can get fit and healthy soon. I have liked what I have seen so far.

"It is only going to be good for the team. Competition for spots is only going to make us better."

The loss of Teakle with a shoulder injury during the second term of the 23-point win against Sydney at the weekend has the Port Adelaide match committee needing to consider recalling Hayes after a two-week absence, promoting Visentini for his AFL debut or staying with Finlayson.

The decision made at selection on Thursday is made more challenging by the impressive form of giant Gold Coast ruckman Jarrod Witts.

"It is going to be a good challenge for whoever goes in there," Lycett said. "Witts is one of the best ruckmen in the competition, probably second to (Melbourne premiership captain) Max Gawn. Whoever is picked will have their hands full."

Brownlow Medallist and vice-captain Ollie Wines is admiring the work of key forward Jeremy Finlayson when he is asked to lead the ruck.

"Jeremy's game at the weekend was tremendous," Wines said. "He has embraced that ruck role. If he stays as our lead ruck, we would be more than happy with that.

"Jeremy is almost like another midfielder in there. It might be a time in football when that more mobile, 'fourth mid' ruckman is coming into the game. We do see a lot of big ruckmen still in the game and doing good things, but times might be changing where a ruckman who can follow up his ruckwork by being that extra number at ground level is really important."

And the fascination with hit-outs as a statistic might be changing too.

"We play the percentages and don't expect the ball will be put in our position (when we play to makeshift ruck options)," Wines said. "I look back on my career and know we have had good ruckmen. But it has not been our 'one wood' - winning hit-outs or getting hit-outs to advantage.

"I think back to the days of Jackson Trengove. We had a lot of ruckmen injured and relied on our midfielders beating the opposition midfielders in the battle to the ball. It is not so much of a challenge for us (to play with under-size ruckmen); we have always thrived in that environment.

"Against Gold Coast with Witts, we as midfielders will have to be on our toes and not expect as many hits.

"Until Scott (Lycett) is back, it will be no different."

"It is the gift that keeps giving," adds Wines of the ruck story at Alberton this season when Port Adelaide has worked four lead ruckmen (Lycett, Hayes, Teakle and Finlayson) and converted half-forward Sam Powell-Pepper to a capable ruckman.

"Full credit to Brynn Teakle. His upside is enormous. He is going to be a good player for us for many years to come."

Hayes was Port Adelaide's option for lead ruck for seven consecutive weeks before he was dropped in the lead-up to the clash with Richmond at the MCG a fortnight ago.

Both Lycett and Wines have faith in the 23-year-old 2021 SANFL best and fairest regaining his place in the AFL game.

Lycett said: "I've had that conversation with Sam when he was dropped, basically saying to him that I was going through that when I started out (at West Coast). I was a bit younger than he is - being older he can take it a bit better.

"Sam understands he has things to work on in his game. He knows what those things are. I am sure when he corrects, he will be back in the side.

"Anyone who plays AFL in their first season finds it hard to back it up game after game and find a consistency. At the moment, Sam needs to work on a couple of things like his follow up at ground level and team defence. He is working on those things in the SANFL. And I like what I saw at the weekend (against Norwood at Alberton Oval), so he has definitely put his hand up."

Wines added: "Sam got his opportunity and showed some really good positives. But Sam knows he has a lot of improvement to make. It is really good for him to have had that (seven-game) experience at AFL level. To see the development he made in the AFL was enormous. He has taken that back to the SANFL now and set some goals for himself.

"Until you get to the AFL, you don't really see those things you need to work on. That has been a really good eye-opener for Sam.

"His follow-up (is a work in progress). Sam is good in the air and what he is able to do with hit-outs and contested marking. His biggest challenge - because he is so big - is having an impact at ground level. (Ruck coach) Matt Lobbe is doing an enormous amount of work with Sam. The most important thing is Sam is so open to that. He wants to learn.

"And he is working really hard at it."

Lycett endorsed the pre-selection talk on Visentini, the No.56 pick in the 2021 AFL national draft.

"I like Dante's aggression," Lycett said. "He is a really good lad. He is one of those 'white-line fever' players ... quiet off field, a respectful guy who attacks his training and I like what I have seen in the SANFL so far. He is going to be definitely a player to watch in the future.

Wines praised the work of Visentini saying: "You don't see an 18-year-old ruckman develop so early. Generally, they are usually a four or five-year project, but what Dante has been able to do in the SANFL against grown men - even the development in his body to be able to compete and hold his own physically - is enormous. He is another ruckman we see a lot of potential.

"Whether he gets his AFL opportunity in the next couple of weeks, he is going to be a really good player."

The clash with Gold Coast begins at Adelaide Oval at 3.40pm on Sunday.

The game is part of the AFL’s Kids Go Free month, where children under the age of 15 can get free access to games.