THE DAYS of one-on-one battles between defender and forward are gone, according to Port Adelaide's Jackson Trengove, who has flagged a musical chairs-like arrangement on Saturday night to stop Sydney Swan Lance Franklin.
Franklin booted a match-winning five goals against the Power in round 13 last year, but was held to two majors in round 20 by Jack Hombsch.
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He kicked three in the Swans' two-goal win over Essendon last week.
Trengove rated Franklin's partnership with Kurt Tippett as the deadliest attacking combination in football.
While Hombsch will likely be given another opportunity to shut Franklin out of the game at Adelaide Oval, Trengove and Alipate Carlile would also spend time on the superstar.
Rotation will be key to ensuring no Power defender is caught out of position.
"Hombsch will go on [Franklin] at stages but I think Alipate will go on him at stages too, particularly if he’s deep," Trengove said.
"It's a back six versus a forward six or forward eight - they rotate that much and teams have got so much depth nowadays that it's not that one-on-one battle it was five years ago.
"They've got Sam Reid who will go down there, Tippett's down there, they've got Goodes who will be down there – they've got some big names.
"But we'll be trying to help each other out.'
Saturday night's game will be Trengove's 100th, after he debuted in round one, 2010.
He won the club's best and fairest with Travis Boak the following season.
His leadership at the club reflects a player approaching a milestone closer to 200 games, but at just 24, Trengove has years of football ahead of him.
The key defender said he'd leave appreciation of the milestone to his parents and concentrate on squaring the Power's season at 1-1.
"The young boys that come in all think I'm a bit older, so it has felt like I've been around here a long time … I'm just so proud to be able to play 100 games at this footy club – it's meant a lot to me," he said.
"My mum and dad and my family will really treasure it probably more than I will throughout the week.
"For me it's just about getting the job done … it's always going to be a tough match against Sydney, you know how good their players are.
"They've got inside, big forwards, a good backline – it's going to be a good contest and I think our boys are up for it."
Ruckman Matthew Lobbe remains a chance to line up against the Swans after withdrawing from last weekend's loss to Fremantle with quad tightness.
Trengove said Lobbe was close to playing against the Dockers but would have to prove his fitness later in the week.
Port will train at Adelaide Oval for the first time this year on Wednesday night.
Team defence the only way to stop Swans: Trengove
Jackson Trengove says team defence, rather than one-on-one battles, is the only way to stop Sydney's power forwards