FOR much, if not all of his 71 AFL games, the analysts have struggled to pin a label on Mitch Georgiades.

Key forward? Georgiades' first line coach at Alberton, Nathan Bassett, would bristle at such a description and point to the tape measure - 192 centimetres (in the old imperial count).  The league's genuine tall forwards, such as Tom Lynch at Richmond and Max King at St Kilda, are taking the tape measure to two metres and beyond.

More likely tall wingman than tall forward, Bassett would add to emphasise the high-leaping Georgiades had the athletic capacity to work in a channel against the centre square more so than be a tall beacon in the goal square.

High forward, patrolling the top of the 50-metre arc? Go-to forward from the goal square?

"The beauty of our forward line," says Georgiades of a division that is being redefined at Port Adelaide, "is the great flexibility we have. We have guys who can play different roles.

"At times I will play deep as I did Saturday. At times I will play high. It is about seeing what is happening in the game and going from there."

No label will stick on the 23-year-old West Australian who continues a long line of Sandgropers who arrive at Alberton and stay, as noted across the past five decades starting with Carl Fragomeni and Steve Curtis.

"(Saturday) I had to play a bit more tall because we lost Jack early," adds Georgiades of the injury to new team-mate Jack Lukosius that will further test Port Adelaide's strategic investment in small forwards during the trade period.

Georgiades now stands as Port Adelaide's tallest forward in the wake of the injury list taking Todd Marshall (198cm) with an Achilles injury during the pre-season and at the weekend both Gold Coast recruit Jack Lukosius (195cm) with a fractured knee cap and young prospect Ollie Lord (197cm) with a shoulder hit. This is on top of ruckmen Ivan Soldo (204cm) and Dante Visentini (202cm) enduring their own injury woes during the summer.

In the early minutes of Saturday's clash with Richmond at Adelaide Oval - with Lukosius in the medical rooms after hitting his knee on an opponent's hip - Georgiades had one indisputable label: The only big guy in the Port Adelaide attack.

The six forwards on the starting 6-6-6 set-up early in the third term were: Georgiades, Sam Powell-Pepper (187cm), the record-breaking Travis Boak (183cm), Darcy Byrne-Jones (181cm), Collingwood recruit Joe Richards (177cm) and Willie Rioli (175cm). Hardly the football version of the "Land of the Giants".

"Five minutes in," says Georgiades reflecting on Saturday's game, "I realised it was just me out there ... and I am not particularly tall in the forward line anyway. There's plenty of small boys ..."

So - be it by design as Port Adelaide considered how to move on from the retired Charlie Dixon or necessity from a long list of injuries to tall forwards - the "hybrid" model has emerged at Alberton.

And regardless of how Port Adelaide sets up in the forward half, the reality of success or failure to put a winning tally on the scoreboard will be measured by ball movement from the contest - a decisive factor against Richmond to put 21.14 on the Adelaide Oval scoreboard from 12 goalscorers, led by Georgiades with his match-high four goals.

"When we move the ball (that way) it makes it very hard to defend," notes Georgiades of a system that generated 56 inside-50 sorties at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

"That was pretty impressive with everyone getting involved."

Had all gone well - and perhaps to plan - Georgiades would have been part of a well-proven theme of three "go-to" forwards at Port Adelaide: Georgiades working to the taller pairing of Marshall and Lukosius. 

"Originally it would have been (this trio) and a fleet of small boys as well," says Georgiades. "We were really excited going into the year (with this mix). Then we lost Todd - and that was really disappointing. 

"But we are still excited by what we have in our forward line. We are very versatile. And we are an exciting group."

While Georgiades is still without a label sticking to him, Port Adelaide is drawing the "hybrid" theme to an attack that significantly moves away from the template set by Hawthorn and Richmond in their recent premiership eras with two tall forwards and an elite opportunist (Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli at Hawthorn and Tom Lynch, Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin at Richmond).

"Yeah, we're 'hybrid'," says Georgiades of the Port Adelaide theme in attack. "Look at the qualities we have there - highly skilled, fast, youth making for an exciting forward line. 

"What is important for us is getting up and down the ground (to test defences) and then playing with ball movement that allows us to play to our strengths. 

"Ball movement is especially (important). The ability for us to move the ball fast - probably not seen in the pre-season and not in the first game (against Collingwood) - is going to put us in the best space.

"We know what works for us as a forward line and as a team in general. We have trained all pre-season for speed in our ball movement. We aim to get up and down the ground to make it as big as possible. Regardless what players are out there, that is our strength as a team - and we will play to that (theme) as much as possible."

In the new-look attack is a new face making a quick impression in Joe Richards, a 25-year-old finding more opportunity than he knew at Collingwood.

"He is consistent, he is reliable and one of the hardest gut-runners you will see - and I love playing with him," says Georgiades. "He also is an even better bloke. He is a great asset to have at the club."

There is the return of a well-known face after a year on the sidelines recuperating from a serious knee injury, the so-called "barometer" Sam Powell-Pepper.

"That first goal," says Georgiades referring to the right-foot snap from Powell-Pepper on the boundary at the River Torrens end, "I don't know how that went in ... that was an amazing goal. We almost forgot how much 'Pep' means to us. When you see him out there he is our Trojan warrior. He is dominating. It is nice to have him back. We did miss him."

Port Adelaide on Thursday night returns to Marvel Stadium in the Melbourne Docklands forced to be creative in its attacking set-up, in a repeat of a challenge posed three years ago against St Kilda at the same indoor stadium when Ken Hinkley's match committee was not looking at a white board loaded with tall options.

There also is the understanding this week's opponent, Essendon, will have a crash course on defensive systems after conceding 161 points at the MCG on Saturday and drawing savage review of its defensive work.

Port Adelaide endured such intense focus last week - and responded.

"And we came into the game (against Richmond) understanding the importance of pressure, of putting our opponents under as much pressure as we could," Georgiades said. "Against Collingwood, it was not up to scratch. We were single-minded and refreshed (last week). We simplified things. We brought pressure to the game."