EXPERIENCED defenders Hamish Hartlett and Trent McKenzie are available for selection, along with young forward Todd Marshall, forcing a squeeze on the match committee whiteboard in the lead-up to Port Adelaide's season opener against North Melbourne on Sunday.
And it might take a rule change - with the potential return of the substitute for concussion or major injury - to reward the Port Adelaide players who have pressed their claims during a productive pre-season at Alberton.
This includes 2019 top draftee Miles Bergman, father-son pick Jackson Mead and 2020 academy graduate Lachie Jones.
McKenzie (corked thigh) and Marshall (bruised cheek) proved their fitness at training at Alberton Oval on Tuesday morning before senior coach Ken Hinkley and his assistants considered selecting a match 22 ... or more, subject to AFL rulings this week on the substitute debate. Hartlett will get his chance on Thursday.
Only forward-midfielder Connor Rozee (foot surgery) is unavailable from the 26 who beat Adelaide by 71 points in the lone AAMI Community Series practice game at Noarlunga on March 7. Hartlett, McKenzie and Marshall missed this match in which Bergman, Mead and Jones further enhanced their claims for AFL debuts at the Docklands in Melbourne this weekend.
Port Adelaide forwards coach Nathan Bassett praised the work the untried trio has put together during the pre-season to push for AFL selection this week.
"We have some confidence in our younger people to certainly perform a role in the team, if they get that opportunity," Bassett said. "It is nice to have some guys who have not played much in the last 12 months (due to COVID protocols in the SANFL) but (who) we think can contribute this year at AFL level.
"Mead and Miles Bergman, in particular, (can step up to AFL). Mead right from the start of the pre-season with his improved fitness level and the way he attacked the pre-season; and Miles Bergman's last month had been excellent.
"And we all saw what Lachie Jones did in the SANFL finals last year - he is a big, strong talented footballer."
Port Adelaide will play its first AFL match in Melbourne since losing to North Melbourne at the Docklands on August 17, 2019. Bassett notes the depth and talent of the Port Adelaide squad has improved since then with both strategic recruiting and in-house development of draftees.
"We certainly have some good young people who are coming through," Bassett said. "They have played a fair amount of AFL football (now). The mid-tier or mid-age group is growing as well. That has been a hole on our list but guys such as Karl Amon, Dan Houston, Darcy Byrne-Jones, (Ryan) Burton, (Riley) Bonner, Tom Clurey (have filled the gap) ... there are some good players in there."
Bassett will manage an attack that seems primed to take advantage of recent AFL rule changes with the 6-6-6 starting positions and man-on-the-mark rule encouraging more scoring - a theme that fits Port Adelaide's current playbook.
"It is the longer quarters (20 minutes rather than 16 of last season) and less rotations (75 rather than 90) that will test each team's fitness base and ability to maintain possession," Bassett said of the other rule changes to influence Season 2021. "The good thing for us is we are not making drastic changes or big game-style changes.
"We are coaching the team the same. We have added a couple of players, experienced players (in forward Orazio Fantasia from Essendon and defender Aliir Aliir from Sydney).
"(The new rules) suit us for where we are at, but we will only find out when the season kicks off."
Bassett expect Port Adelaide to "adapt" if the AFL restores the substitute to the interchange bench.
"We will be flexible and agile," said Bassett. "There are some challenges with how you use your squad, particularly with smaller lists. And what it does to the Magpies team (in the SANFL). We will adapt where we need to."
