NATHAN Krakouer will get his opportunity to make a case for a berth in Port Adelaide's round one side during Sunday's NAB Challenge match against West Coast at Norwood Oval.

The 26-year-old played his last game for Port Adelaide in round 19, 2010. He joined Gold Coast for the Suns' inaugural season in 2011 but walked away from AFL football after playing 13 games that year.

Port Adelaide took a chance re-drafting Krakouer in last year's rookie draft and stand-in coach Matthew Nicks said the match against the Eagles was a test to see if the ex-Sun could possibly play in Port's round one side.

"We want to have a look at him and see whether the stuff he's done over the break has put him in a position to be AFL ready for round one, as well as a couple of others," Nicks said.

Young defender Tom Clurey is another who will get his chance in the absence of Jackson Trengove.

"Clurey will play," Nicks said.

"He's a young kid that we just want to see if he's up to it."

Jack Hombsch and Jared Polec were both named in the 29-man squad to face the Eagles but Nicks said the pair would likely be left out of the final 26 after doing some extra work at the end of Saturday's training session.

"At this point they're not (playing) but we've got that option if we need to," Nicks said.

"They've only done a bit extra at the end of this session just to get a bit of a blow out."

Nicks said the unavailability of Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries was not an issue for the club during the NAB Challenge. Port is confident the pair are getting enough work in to be ready for whenever they are cleared to play following the conclusion of the AFL's anti-doping Tribunal.

"It's not really an issue," Nicks said.

"It's something we can't control. It would be great to have them there but there's nothing we can do about it at this point. So we'll do what we can with as much match simulation training, as much as we can get out there post-sessions. They'll get a good workout to try and make sure they're ready when they're available."

Nicks gets his opportunity to taste senior coaching this week as Ken Hinkley takes a back seat.

The former Swan has ambitions to be a senior coach long-term and he said giving opportunities to assistant coaches in the NAB Challenge was an ideal learning experience.

"From a purely selfish view the experience has been incredible," Nicks said.

"It just opens your eyes to what's involved. The seat is nowhere near as hot either. It's a NAB Challenge game. It's still very important.

"We want a great start but I can't imagine a finals game.”