PORT ADELAIDE faces St Kilda in the club-badged "retro round" at Adelaide Oval on Sunday wanting to turn back the clock five weeks - let alone a decade by wearing an early 2000s guernsey. The aim is to find the hard-running, attacking game that put St Kilda on the back foot in the final pre-season work-out.
But does the heavy injury count at Alberton force senior coach Ken Hinkley to do his own "retro" work with the playbook to fashion a gameplan to suit the talent left on his selection whiteboard?
Hinkley on Tuesday at Alberton insisted on persistence with the themes presented to the playing group at the start of pre-season in early November.
"Our method is okay; our method is more than capable of winning AFL football," Hinkley said. "We need to continue to chase that.
"To expect at round three it would be absolutely perfect ... no, it was not going to be. There was going to be some challenges with that. Sometimes it is personnel challenges (by injury), but ultimately we have to understand our game style and continue to chase that with the teams we pick every week.
"Our method was off in lots of things last week (against Essendon). There were lots of things that did not put our game to the level we would like. Some of our method is off and some of our contest stuff is off. It is up to us to change and rectify."
Hinkley insists the gameplan needs "total commitment ... and seeing it through."
"Right to the very end," added Hinkley. "We are starting to get there. We are getting much more in tune with what that looks like. But occasionally we are going to make some mistakes. AFL football forces mistakes on you. Then you have to reset and get your belief back in that this is the way you do it and this is the way we are going to continue to do it.
"Our method will stack up really well. I am confident."
THURSDAY WATCH: Optimism that midfielder Zak Butters could come off the injury list - after knee surgery - earlier than expected will be tested at training on Thursday. And not just Butters.
"We have three or four players, not just Zak, we will be looking at this week," Hinkley said. "Importantly, it will be what can the players get through on Thursday after we have had a longer break (between Thursday night football against Essendon and Sunday afternoon's clash with St Kilda).
"Zak is one of those players we will look at much more closely on Thursday. As I said last week, we are optimistic that he is getting closer. If it is Sunday or not we will see.
"If Zak plays, he will be more than ready.
"If we get Zak Butters, Lachie Jones and Ollie Lord up and about to be ready for this week, we will get a good bit of confidence.
"Ollie Lord, like Zak, is moving in the right direction (to coming off the injury list with a shoulder injury taken out of a fall in a SANFL trial game). We are optimistic ... but there is still a fair bit to tick off after a little bit of stuff (at training) today and hopefully more on Thursday. That will give us some answers, some really clear answers."
NEW HOPE: After exposing three new faces to AFL football in the first three weeks, the excitement builds with Christian Moreas.
"It is a nice look we are getting of a young player who has played a couple of games," Hinkley said. "It is bloody exciting. I love seeing the young blokes play. I get great belief that they are going to be better players and they will be better quicker by playing them in the AFL. Christian is a great example of that."
NEW ROLES: Is Jase Burgoyne to emerge as more than a half-back or wingman? The temptation to try Burgoyne in other roles is growing with Hinkley.
"Jase has turned into a handy player wherever we need him," Hinkley said. "Flexibility is a great thing. He is a really talented player who has great growth in him still. I know I can play him on the wing. I can play him at half-back and have success. I am interested in the challenge if I play him forward or inside (mid). His growth is still coming. I would not like to pigeon hole him right now with 'is this his best position?' because he is growing as a player. It is exciting."
OPPO WATCH: Five weeks after scoring a 44-point win against St Kilda in the pre-season closer at Moorabbin in Melbourne, the landscape has changed dramatically at both clubs. Port Adelaide has taken more and more hits on its injury list and St Kilda is regaining talent.
St Kilda has won its past two games to command seventh spot on the AFL ladder with its percentage boosted by the weekend's 82-point win against Richmond on Saturday.
"A lot changes quickly week to week in this game and at this level particularly," said Hinkley. "To St Kilda's credit, they have found some really good form and they are in good nick. They have some personnel back who they did not have in that game we played in the pre-season.
"And we have some players who are not there. Seven days is a long time in footy, let alone the five weeks since we played that game."
Port Adelaide has won the past six matches against St Kilda with the past five games decided by 13 points or less.
TWO RUCKS: Will the tandem of ruckmen Jordon Sweet and Ivan Soldo continue?
"It is still an option for us as a selection committee - same as whether we pick tall forwards, tall backs versus small backs ...," Hinkley said. "Those questions are up every week. They are always discussed. Nothing is put to bed.
"We look at all our options and opportunities whenever we need to."
CONTRACTS: Half-back Kane Farrell signed a five-year contract extension that reaffirms the confidence in the player base on the future direction at Alberton amid the pending handover from Hinkley to Josh Carr.
"It is really satisfying when you see players want to finish their careers at Port Adelaide," Hinkley said.
The focus remains on contracted midfielder Zak Butters who enters free agency at the end of next season.
"I know how he feels about being at Port Adelaide," Hinkley said. "His connection to this footy club is really strong. He has great relationships with all this footy team. He is a pretty important piece to this footy club ... and I'd like to have him playing out there pretty soon."
