Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley says the luxury of having an unchanged side to face Brisbane on Saturday means his players have a responsibility to perform.
Hinkley has been able to keep the same side which impressively beat Sydney at the SCG by 23 points last Sunday, with a minor hamstring complaint by Chad Wingard the only injury concern.
But the Power boss said the dynamic forward would play.
“We wouldn’t take a risk, that would be foolish… but he’s comfortable, he ran at high speeds yesterday and there’s no issues,” Hinkley said.
“If he would be sore tomorrow or he didn’t get through the warm-up, that would be the only reason he wouldn’t play.”
“Obviously we’re in some good form going into the game so it’s good that the boys get the opportunity and the responsibility to do it again.”
North Melbourne recruit Lindsay Thomas has been named among four emergencies after starring in the SANFL last week and Hinkley said he had given himself every opportunity of an AFL return but like numerous others on the Power’s healthy list would have to bide his time.
Much of the attention leading into the Brisbane match has been given to Tom Rockliff playing against the side he previously captained.
Hinkley said the experienced midfielder would handle the pressure.
“Rock would be pretty keen to do well, as would Brisbane be to make sure he doesn’t do well so I would imagine that Tommy would be a little bit anxious about tomorrow and how he wants to go about things but importantly for him he just needs to come and play his role,” Hinkley remarked, noting that Rockliff would continue to spend more time on the ball.
“Tom’s playing a role for us that we’re really comfortable with and we know that there’s an enormous amount of growth still to come from his own role and also from the team.”
Hinkley said he had been impressed with the competitiveness of the Lions under Coach Chris Fagan and said his side would need to be at its best to remain unbeaten in 2018.
“You can see, not just the two games this year, but we’ve seen their growth at the end of last year,” Hinkley commented.
“We’ve seen their club improve and Fages has done a great job with that young team and they’re going to come down here tomorrow and give us everything they’ve got and we need to stand up.
“The important part for me is that we have to come out and perform and look the same as we did in the first two games, regardless of who we play and where we play.”
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