CONNOR Rozee is living to his own lofty expectations. And the rising star in the Port Adelaide this weekend will find a benchmark moment when matched against the AFL's premiership-winning midfield at Melbourne.

"I have high expectations of myself," says Rozee, the first-round draftee who stands as the pin-up image of the new generation of Port Adelaide players to power the AFL club for the next decade.

"I want to perform week-in, week-out," adds Rozee, whose form lines have risen in the past three months when his consistency is - by no coincidence - replicated with Port Adelaide's season-saving run of eight wins in the past 11 games.

"I want to perform to the best of my ability."

Called at No. 5 at the 2018 AFL national draft - along with Zak Butters (No. 12) and Xavier Duursma (No. 18) - Rozee is now 75 games into his national league career that carries rave expectations externally.

"People can get a bit carried away," said Rozee of Port Adelaide premiership midfielder Kane Cornes' prediction of Rozee being the game's best player within the next three years. "Those (calls) are a bit much ...

"I listen to the people inside the footy club and those who are close around me ... and keeping level-headed because those comments are a bit unnecessary."

Traeger Park, Alice Springs - where Port Adelaide has beaten Melbourne in three AFL meetings - is the stage on Sunday for Rozee to play a critical part in countering the anticipated advantages Melbourne's proven midfield will have while working to All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn.

"I can't wait - it is a great challenge," said Rozee, best-afield last week against Greater Western Sydney with a four-goal return from the midfield. "I have not played in the midfield (against Melbourne) to a big extent previously. It is one of the best midfields in the competition - and has been for a few years now.

"So I am really looking forward to it - and can't wait to challenge myself against some of the best. They are all great players (Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and James Harmes)."

Rozee, 22, notes his progress to meeting all expectation - his, his club and his admirers - has come from more than just being clear of the injuries that unsettled his progress in recent seasons.

"The experience is the main thing," Rozee said. "Being able to play more consistently in the midfield - and learning from Travis Boak and Ollie Wines has taught me how to prepare myself.

"I did most of the pre-season in the midfield. Building my tank and making myself physically ready to play in there (has helped), but learning from guys who have been in the midfield for most of their career has allowed me to gain a lot. And I am still trying to learn."

Rozee has played all 16 home-and-away games this season, moving to the midfield after Port Adelaide had looked to him as the stop-gap answer to the loss of opportunist forwards Robbie Gray and Orazio Fantasia with injury.

"I was one of the more-experienced forwards for a couple of weeks - and that was surprising considering I had played only 60ish games at that point," notes Rozee of the drain to the Port Adelaide attack where injury also sidelined All-Australian key forward Charlie Dixon.

"I have learned a lot throughout the course of my career - and that will hold me in good stead, even if that means changing positions and being more flexible."

By the numbers, Rozee has been busy this season. His top-eight games for disposals - from a career-high 31 against West Coast to five games with 24 touches - are all from this year.

By the coaches' reckoning - both Port Adelaide senior coach and the opposition bench - Rozee has been the perfect player in the recent wins against Gold Coast in round 15 and Greater Western Sydney at the weekend. He is eighth on the leaderboard of the AFL Coaches' Association annual award with 62 votes - 22 behind injured Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver.

Port Adelaide, at 8-8 and ranked 12th, will be measured across the next four matches by four current top-eight sides: Melbourne, Collingwood, Geelong and Richmond.

"Inside the footy club we know that if we play our best brand of footy that we can pretty much beat any team," Rozee said. "We have had some decent form in the past 10-11 weeks. We did not start the way we wanted to (0-5), but we have been building some good form.

"We have a tough run home; we need to win most of the games - and it starts with a big challenge this week against Melbourne. This one would be a good one to tick off, that is for sure.

"We are more excited (than daunted) by the opportunity. If we make finals (in September) we are going to play those teams, so we might as well test ourselves before the finals. We have a tough run home and the boys are really up for it.

"Win this week - and we start to put ourselves in a great position to give ourselves a chance (to play top-eight finals).

"The challenge when you play the good teams is to keep performing. We need to be consistent with how we play with our pressure - that is what we have been building our game around. Our past couple of years show that when we play that way, we can pretty much beat anyone."

Port Adelaide's repetitive ruck question is again to seek the answer from the Jeremy Finlayson-Charlie Dixon combination while lead ruckman Scott Lycett continues to rebuild his fitness and form after injuring his shoulder in the round four clash with Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.

"There have been different challenges throughout this year - and (ruck) has been a big one for our midfield group," Rozee said. "They (Finlayson and Dixon) give us a lot of things that other ruckmen don't - speed on the ground; they play as an extra midfielder.

"We lose a bit in the ruck craft, so this week becomes a big challenge against Max Gawn who has been a great player. Jeremy and Charlie will have their hands full.

"We would love to have Scott Lycett back this week. We have worked to Jeremy and Charlie for a few weeks now, so we feel that game plan is 'normal' and steady on that front. We have to play our body a little more when you are not running to a dominant ruck who can tap it wherever you want. Things have changed a little bit, but Jeremy and Charlie give us that strength on the floor.

"Scott has pulled up a bit sore (after his SANFL comeback match at the weekend). They are checking his shoulder for this week. Hopefully he can get that right because the sooner we get him back, the better."

Port Adelaide defender Riley Bonner tested a helmet during the open training session at Alberton on Wednesday as he continued his comeback from a fractured cheekbone and eye socket suffered against Gold Coast in round 15.

"He won't be too far away," Rozee said.

Port Adelaide will name an extended squad on Thursday.