Boak, Surjan return

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See the full line-ups for both sides at the bottom of the article


Jackson Trengrove could loom as a potential late inclusion after being named as an emergency, but he needs to confirm his fitness after undergoing finger surgery nearly three weeks ago.

Boak is a welcome return to a Port Adelaide midfield still missing several big names to injury, and looms as a vital inclusion as the Power hosts its home derby for 2012.

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Port Adelaide general manager football Peter Rohde said Boak had convinced doctors and selectors that he’d bounced back from an operation to release his torn plantar fascia.

“From the moment he had his surgery, he had a definitive rehab program so he’s ticked all the boxes and he’s ready to come in,” Rohde told PortAdelaideFC.com.au

“He’s trained really well all week. He ran last week and he’s had two footy sessions on Tuesday and Thursday this week, so he’s well and truly ready to go.”

Rohde is confident Boak will quickly recover his match fitness. “He’s missed four weeks being three games plus the bye, but he’s naturally a very fit person,” he said.

“We think he’ll come in a bit fresher for having a bit of a break as well. Clearly his match fitness will be down a little bit, but he’ll pick that up pretty quickly.”

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Surjan comes back in after a hip issue made him a late withdrawal from the party that travelled to Geelong last week.

“He only tweaked it on Thursday last week and if he’d had a full week to recover he probably would have played last week,” Rohde said.

“He’s come up and trained well and he comes back into the side and I’m sure he’s got a number of potential opponents in the Crows forward line.”

Renouf - who underwent treatment for patella tendonitis during the pre-season - has succumbed to soreness after playing 10 successive games in 2012.

“Brent’s had patella and some general knee soreness for a couple of weeks and we think it’s time he had a rest,” Rohde said.

“He struggled a little bit last week and the other side of it is having Matthew Lobbe back up and going and in his second game he’s ready to take a bit more responsibility.

“The rest of the ruck work can be spread around, but we’re confident Lobbes can take a fair bit of the load.”

While Lobbe - who made his return from hip surgery last week - is the only recognised ruckman named in this week’s team, the Power has named three tall emergencies, in Jarrad Redden, Daniel Stewart and Jackson Trengove.

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Rohde said a surgeon had cleared Trengove after the finger operation, but the tall defender needed to prove his fitness if he is to be considered for a late change when the Power finalises its team.

“He trained really well today and probably surprised us, so we’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow and how he goes at training tomorrow,” Rohde said.

“He’d have to have the final medical clearance from the club doctors first of all. They still want to sign off on that which is understandable.

“The surgeon has given him the all clear today and said he’s happy for him to play if our club doctors are happy.

“He’s trained and done full ball work today, so if he pulls up alright tomorrow there’s every chance that we’ll consider him.”

Port Adelaide will assess weather conditions and the shape of the Adelaide line-up before finalising its 22.

O’Shea was a last-minute call-up last week for Surjan whose return forces his younger team-mate back to South Adelaide and an encounter with Woodville-West Torrens on Saturday afternoon.

“We’re happy that Cam’s form has been building in the SANFL,” Rohde said. “We’d really like to bring him back into the AFL team on the back of some really consistent SANFL form to give him a good run at the end of the season.”

Port Adelaide plays Adelaide from 7.10pm on Saturday night at AAMI Stadium.