Port Adelaide forward Robbie Gray will be playing for West Adelaide on Thursday night. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser
PORT Adelaide will take a match-hardened side into its premiership season opener against Melbourne at the MCG.
Coach Ken Hinkley will deliver on his promise of not gambling on underdone players for the Easter Sunday clash, with a host of big names being told to find full fitness in the SANFL.
Former captain Dom Cassisi, ace forwards Robbie Gray and John Butcher and Hawthorn premiership ruckman Brent Renouf have been overlooked for AFL selection and will play in the opening round of the local league tonight.
Other Power regulars who have endured injury-plagued pre-seasons, Glenelg's Cameron Hitchcock and Tom Logan, will also play in the SANFL as Hinkley picks a fit side that he hopes will run the Demons off their legs.
"We've got blokes who have played only a little bit of football in the past week or so, so we will back in the boys who have had a really solid NAB Cup," Hinkley said of his first-round selection policy.
"What I know with them is that they will be fit, they will be strong and they will be ready to compete.
"There is not much room for underdone players going into round one and that will be the case with us."
Medium-sized forward Brett Ebert will not play any football this weekend after pulling up sore in his return from a hamstring injury with the Port Magpies last week.
Hinkley will name his first 25-man squad today and finalise the starting 22 tomorrow.
Few opening rounds are as important for Port as this year's as it embarks on a new era under Hinkley and a new-look coaching staff while fielding a rebuilt list.
The Power lost a mountain of experience in the off-season after losing Troy Chaplin and Danyle Pearce to free agency and cutting ties with David Rodan, Jacob Surjan and Steven Salopek.
First-round draft pick Ben Jacobs also walked out on the club to join North Melbourne.
"Round one for us is really important and we want to make sure we put on a really good showing," Hinkley said.
"But it's important for every club to start the season well. I hear comments from Geelong, from (coach) Chris Scott, that they want to start their season well.
"And they are a side which has been more successful than any one over the past five or six years.
"So for us, it's no different, we need to start the season well but I'm sure Melbourne do too."
Hinkley said the Power was "ready to go".
"There's no doubt about that," he said.
"Weve had a really solid pre-season. We would have liked a little more game time into some players but outside of that we've got a really fit squad and a really confident squad about what we're trying to achieve."
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