Win one for J-Mac - and the jumper

Adelaide's fish kill worsens, a police car caught up in a high-speed chase, and Power players prepare to honour the late John McCarthy

PORT Adelaide is treating Saturday night's John McCarthy tribute match as one of the most important in its history.

Apart from being desperate to honour a mate with a win against Kevin Sheedy's Greater Western Sydney, the Power wants to:

SHOW it is not a one-hit wonder by backing up its impressive 79-point round one thumping of Melbourne at the MCG.

CONTINUE to try to regain the respect of its supporters and the AFL by winning its first home game and beating a lower-ranked opponent.

EXORCISE some of the demons of last year's shock round 19 defeat to GWS which ended Matthew Primus's Power coaching career.

PROVE that its young playing list - the second-youngest to take the field in round one - is every bit as exciting as the talked-up Giants, who boast the youngest squad.

Brad Ebert, left, shared his first Port Adelaide victory with John McCarthy, Jarrad Redden and Chad Wingard. Picture: Simon Cross.

"This game takes on a lot of extra significance," Port vice-captain Brad Ebert said of the 7.10pm clash.

"We felt we put in a good performance (against Melbourne) and we were happy that we got the win but we've already talked about making sure that it's just one small step that we have put in place.

"The whole season is about earning respect back and this week is another important step towards that.

"We've got to make sure we back up last week's performance and get more wins on the board.

"And we have just got to get the win for John and his family."

Port will honour McCarthy - who tragically died in a fall from a Las Vegas hotel while on an end-of-season trip with teammates in September - with a series of pre-match tributes.

McCarthy's Victorian-based family will attend the game.

Midfielder Ebert, who will play his 100th AFL match against the Giants, vividly remembers singing the club song alongside McCarthy when the pair played in their first Power win in round one against St Kilda last season.

He revealed he thinks about his former team-mate every time he runs out to play and the emotion of his good mate's tragic death still hit a raw note with Port players.

"You do think about him a lot," an emotional Ebert said.

"I've thought about him every game. On the weekend (against Melbourne) we had the black armbands for him and this week again the game will be to honour him.

"The end of last year was one of the toughest things we'll ever go through, losing John - this week's a good chance to honour him and get the win for him."

Port Adelaide teammates John McCarthy and Brad Ebert at Alberton in 2012. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

Ebert, 23, said with such emotion swirling around the club the players had spoken about keeping their minds focused on winning.

"That is one of the challenges we have this week," he said.

"We've all thought about it individually and I've spoken to a few of the boys about how they're feeling - everyone's making sure they're focused for the game.

"There's going to be plenty of emotions going around and I guess a fair bit spoken about it, so it will be a tough one, but I think the boys have handled it amazingly well.

"We know the way we want to play now and we're all pretty focused on that."

Ebert, who played 76 games with West Coast before joining the Power at the end of 2011, said he had found it tough to cope with McCarthy's death.

"Obviously there are times when you get down, but you've got to try and remember the good times you had with him because he was a top fella and one of my best mates," he said.

Ebert said the embarrassing 34-point loss to the Giants last year which ended Primus's tenure as coach would also serve as motivation this weekend.

"That's in the back of everyone's mind, we know that we did lose last year and that we need to make amends for that," he said.

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