DUAL All-Australian ruckman Brendon Lade believes Port Adelaide is capable of bouncing back into the finals this season after a disappointing 2008.

The Power, who finished second behind Geelong in 2007, slumped to 13th last year on the back of a string of narrow losses.

The club made wholesale changes, both on and off the field, at the end of the season, but Lade was confident his team still had the right mix to challenge for the top-eight.

“We think we’re a finals team,” Lade said.

“We showed we could play good football against good teams last year, but our biggest thing is being able to play that standard of footy for four quarters each week.

“If we can do that, we think we can mix it with anyone. We think we are better than 13th on the ladder, but every club thinks it is better at this time of year.

“We’ve done enough work to suggest we’re going to have a good team - everything in the off-season points that way - so hopefully that continues into the games where we can start stringing some wins together.”

Port Adelaide welcomed 13 new faces to Alberton in the off-season with several, including gun local Hamish Hartlett, former Geelong midfielder Jason Davenport, half-back Matthew Broadbent and rookies Danny Meyer and Wade Thompson likely to push for selection this year.

The 32-year-old said the influx of youth and enthusiasm had helped to motivate the club’s more senior players, some of whom he said had failed to deliver last season.

“I’m nearly double their [the draftees’] age, so it’s good,” Lade said with a laugh.

“They keep pushing you and keep trying to beat you in a lot of things. That drives the older guys and pushes us to succeed a little more because those guys aren’t far away.

“And if they can play, they’re going to be playing AFL sooner rather than later.”

The Power will also have a new captain for 2009, which will be announced prior to the trial games against SANFL clubs Port Adelaide and Sturt on February 14.

Lade has acted as a vice-captain for the past few years and, despite his age, said he still had aspirations of leading the club.

“It depends what the club wants to go for. If they don’t think anyone else is ready now, they might go for an older person as captain for a year or two and try and develop someone,” he said.

“But if they want to go down the path of a younger guy, then unfortunately I’m not young anymore and I might miss the boat.

“Anyone in the leadership group could be captain. We’ve all got a lot of positives and probably some negatives as well, which we’re all working on to fix.

“Whoever gets the job I’m sure the whole leadership group will support that person and do the best job possible. Really, all the captain will be doing is tossing the coin, doing some media and going out to see the sponsors a lot. Other than that, the rest of the leaders have all got their spot within the team.

“They all lead the team and the captain is just there to oversee it all basically.”