"You never want to lose a Showdown. It is as simple as that."

Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas has drawn the line in the sand. Showdown LII is the classic derby that ignores the AFL premiership ladder where both South Australian clubs have fallen short of continuing to September as top-eight finalists.

This backdrop has the season-ending derby become, as club great Chad Cornes once noted, the "grand final" you have when the other grand final is out of reach.

Port Adelaide closes Season 2022 with home rights in the Showdown. While it is a "dead rubber" in determining the race to the 2022 AFL premiership, the derby has Port Adelaide needing to:

RESPOND to the after-the-siren, four-point loss in Showdown LI on April Fool's Day,

KEEP the lead in the derby ledger which currently reads 26-25 in Port Adelaide's favour,

AVOID losing two Showdowns in the same year for the first time since 2017.

Port Adelaide already is assured of being the best-ranked South Australian AFL team for the fifth consecutive season.

"There is no such thing as a dead rubber when it comes to a Showdown," said Jonas on return from Melbourne on Monday after a solid 14-goal win against Essendon.

"There is a huge amount of pride on the line. It is not about losing two Showdowns in a row. It is about (not) losing this one.

"There is essentially bragging rights across the State. You walk around with your chest puffed out (as Showdown winners).

"When you walk into Port Adelaide, to learn about the history and traditions of the club and with the Showdown, it makes every Showdown count for so much."

The memory of the previous Showdown lingers. Port Adelaide essentially tripped over itself in Showdown LI, failing to close away the game by scoring 4.7 in the second half of the Friday night derby.

"Even when you win a few (Showdowns) on the trot, you always want to win the next one. But we were on the wrong end of it last time - and we want to make amends for it, for sure," Jonas said. "(The derby in April) is reflective of our season. We have reviewed that throughout the year and we will take a closer look at Adelaide in the next couple of days leading into the game.

"We know Adelaide is a fierce contest side that is always up for it and has a crack. They have some players who are playing good footy and their young players are improving. It is going to be a pretty hot clash."

There is a fine line between playing under pressure to win, such is the expectation thrust on Showdown rivals to command bragging rights in Adelaide - and finding inspirational motivation from the challenges posed in a derby.

Jonas finds himself on the more assertive part of this mental divide.

"We thrive off the motivation rather than the pressure," Jonas said.

"Pressure we live with. But it also adds to the motivation; it creates motivation.

"We think about the opportunity to win, not the feeling that we have to win. We are not bogged down by that."

Denied the carrot of playing for a top-eight finals spot, the Port Adelaide coaches and players created their own motivation last week - a "great purpose", as described by Jonas.

"For us," said Jonas, "it was about being great team-mates. We wanted to be really proud of the guernsey - and of each other.

"Personally, I go out there to win every single time.

"We built it up throughout the week. Finals were not on the table (as an incentive), but it was about more than that - it was about looking forward to 2023; it was about this group being the last time we essentially will be together; people playing for careers, contracts, family and friends ... whatever it may be. We’ve spent a lot of energy in the connection space, so we were playing for each other and doing something for someone else.

"The great thing is I can't (see players putting personal agendas before the team goal). They are all invested in the team. Ultimately, team success assures individual success. If people commit to playing their role for the team, everything else takes care of itself."

Port Adelaide's wish to have the club's traditional black-and-white bars jumper from 1901 become its Showdown armour remains locked in AFL-ordered negotiations with Collingwood.

"It would be nice to wear the 'Prison Bars' but that is a decision well beyond me," Jonas said. "I run out there wanting to beat the Crows whatever they want me to wear."

Port Adelaide puts itself in a confident - and reassured - frame for the derby with a season-high 84-point win against Essendon at the Docklands on Sunday.

"No-one likes losing, let alone four in a row," Jonas said. "We went there putting together a four-quarter performance that is really pleasing."

Why Port Adelaide has not consistently found such commanding form remains the frustrating question of Season 2022, as being studied by the internal review at Alberton to ensure there is a rebound to finals contention next season.

"There is a lot of factors that go into that," Jonas said. "We have played some quality sides in the past four to six weeks. Essendon (ranked 14th) is at a similar point to us, needing to find motivation (after falling out of finals contention). We had a great purpose - and that made a huge difference.

"We played some exciting footy. Why have we not been able to do that consistently is the question we will be asking ourselves through the pre-season."

Port Adelaide reported no injury at the weekend and will have unforced changes with the expected return of Showdown specialist Robbie Gray. There is still speculation on the 34-year-old forward's future.

"Robbie is a very private person," Jonas said. "He will make the decision that is right for him at the right time. He is consulting all the people who are important to his life. As far as I am concerned, Robbie is an absolute club champion and he will do what is right for the club and right for him at the right time.

"There are a few boys who are sore (from Sunday), but nothing to worry about. I am good. I was moving on top of the ground (on Sunday) for the first time in a while. It felt nice. And it helped not having the ball come down as much - that makes defenders look faster."

Port Adelaide also could consider recalling key defender Trent McKenzie to assist Jonas and All-Australian Aliir Aliir in matching the three talls at Adelaide, former captain Taylor Walker, No. 2 draftee Riley Thilthorpe and the much-improve Darcy Fogarty.

"Trent is available and played well at SANFL level," Jonas said. "It is just a matter of what we want. Do we want match their three talls with three traditional tall backs or have more versatility with Ryan Burton who can play taller, as he did yesterday? And Dan Houston. That is something for (senior coach) Ken Hinkley to decide."

Port Adelaide's wish to maintain the makeshift ruck battery of Jeremy Finlayson and Charlie Dixon, with support from fellow forward Sam Powell-Pepper, hinges on a match review verdict from Finlayson report in the last term on Sunday.

"Ruck-wise we are going to see that more versatile, non-traditional ruck pairing that we have gone with for the majority of the second half of the year," Jonas said while expecting Finlayson to avoid suspension. "While we have not been winning the hit-outs, you see the damage that Jeremy, Charlie and Sam have been able to do once the ball hits the ground.

"Ultimately, we brought Jeremy here (from Greater Western Sydney) to be a forward. At some time we will work him back to that role with a traditional ruckman in the team. Then he can consistently play as a forward and pinch-hit in the ruck. That is a nice card to have up your sleeve as a change-up ruck, a true X factor."

The Showdown starts at 7pm.