PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley has predicted Saturday night’s Showdown 48 could be a bit “ugly” and the players “rusty” early on in the match, but he has urged patience from supporters given the limited and restricted preparation.

Hinkley’s side sat top of the AFL ladder for 12 weeks because of the COVID-19 shutdown until Thursday night when the draw between Richmond and Collingwood saw both sides move ahead of the Power.

He says his side can’t wait to get back out onto the field in front of a small crowd of just over 2000 people, and wear the iconic prison bar guernsey for the occasion.

“We’re just excited to have footy back and it’s a great way to start it,” Hinkley said in a press conference on Friday.

“We’re going to be in our prison bar jumper, we’re going to have a Showdown, we’re going to have 2000 people coming along and those 2000 people are going to have a memorable day I reckon.

“It’s a once in a lifetime event.

“If you know Port Adelaide, you know that the prison bar jumper is massive. Our supporters who are going to be watching on TV, those who can’t be at the ground, I just sense the pride that they’ll have when they see the team run out with that jumper on.

“It’s so significant to our footy club, it’s a pretty special day.”

And for all of the excitement, Hinkley is expecting there could be some sloppy football in the opening stages.

“We all watched the footy last night. It was challenging at times and they’re two of the best teams in the competition and we’re trying to emerge to be one of the best teams in the competition, which I’m confident we can be,” he said.

“You understand that preparation time has been restricted, has been limited but with all those things in front of us we’re just happy to be back out there playing.

“If the footy’s a bit rusty and a little ugly early, I’d just be patient. It’ll be good and it’ll be exciting again.”

The match pits Hinkley against his former assistant coach Matthew Nicks for the first time since Nicks became coach of the Crows this year.

Hinkley said there was a mutual respect between the pair and he knew his former colleague would make a good contest of the game.

“What I know with Nicksy is that I can just sense he’ll have the club come tighter and tighter together and he’ll coach them really stongly in some fundamentals of the game,” Hinkley explained.

“They’ll play a really strong brand of football. We’ve heard their commentary around the contest and he won’t have missed that their contest in round 1 was a bit off. He’ll remind them about that and we’d expect a really fierce contest as we do with every Showdown.

“No matter who the coaches are, no matter who the teams are personnel-wise. Whenever you go out there it’s a tough game.”

Despite the Crows fielding a number of new faces including debutant Ned McHenry, Hinkley said he had a “great” understanding of the Adelaide outfit and was well prepared for the game.

Hinkley also revealed Jack Watts will play in a trial game involving players not selected for the Power or Crows on Saturday afternoon as he pushes for an AFL return after badly breaking his leg last year.

“Jack Watts is still a little way into his recovery so playing tomorrow in a match-simulation game is important for him,” Hinkley said.

“It’ll be a big step and again, he’s a player off a significant injury and we all need to be mindful of how significant the injury was.

“It’s going to take him a little while but I think in the next three to four weeks you’ll see Jack pushing really strongly.”

Power captain Tom Jonas and Rory Sloane have discussed making a statement as a playing group about the Black Lives Matter anti-racism campaign and Hinkley said the club would support the players with anything that they do.

Hinkley said young forward Kane Farrell would be held over as an emergency and would not feature in the earlier trial game.