PLAYING the first game of Round 23 is seen as a positive by Port Adelaide, despite the potential to allow other teams to know what percentage they might need to shape the finals.

The AFL today confirmed the Power’s last game of the regular season against Essendon will be played on Friday night on the 24th of August at 7.20pm at Adelaide Oval.

With the race for the top eight incredibly close at the moment, it could go right down to the last round of the season to see which teams make the finals.

Some teams would prefer to play at the end of the round, knowing what percentage they might need to lock in a top-eight place, but Port Adelaide senior assistant coach Matthew Nicks is happy for his side to be first up.

“I think stepping out first is the best way to go,” he said at a press conference on Monday.

“I think you’re not playing for anyone else, we’re only playing for ourselves.

“You want to win the game and you want to win it well and if you’re able to do that then everyone else can do that if that’s how they want to approach it, we hope we’re not reacting to too many.”

Nicks said the game shaped as a blockbuster.

He said the six-day break after its game against Collingwood would not affect the Power, with players accustomed to short turnarounds.

“Everyone loves playing in the showtime slot on a Friday night,” Nicks said.

“I think to play the first game, get our home crowd there, there’s nothing better than playing in front of our home fans on a Friday night game.

“They’ll embrace that, it’s like playing with another player out there when they get behind us and the stadium is behind us to for us we couldn’t be more happy.”

While a lot could ride on the game against the Bombers, Nicks said his side wouldn’t be looking too far ahead with important games to come against Adelaide (12th), West Coast (2nd), and Collingwood (3rd).

“We won’t know what that game means until we get through the next month,” he said.

“We’ve got a really tough run home and it starts this week with Adelaide, our hometown rivals.

“We need to get more wins – we’re in that position now where we continue to get wins and we look after ourselves.”

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