Port Adelaide are bracing for some brutal selection calls with three frontliners to return for their AFL qualifying final.
Key backman Tom Clurey, All Australian nominee Zak Butters and halfback Ryan Burton are all but certain selections for Port’s October 1 final against Geelong.
Clurey (hamstring) and Burton (thigh) and Butters (suspension) all missed Monday night’s win against Collingwood which kept the Power in top spot.
Only first-year teenage forward Mitch Georgiades (hamstring) will be unavailable for the Adelaide Oval final against the Cats.
“It’s a nice problem,” assistant coach Michael Voss told reporters on Tuesday.
“There’s going to be some really tough conversations because the guys that have come in have done great jobs.
“They (the returning trio) are pretty important players to us and have had some good presence for us throughout the year.
“The benefit we have had from the start, there was always going to be that squad mentality. And now, as it turns out, we haven’t had a huge injury list.
“It does put pressure on when you have guys underneath really looking for their opportunities and also making the most of their opportunities.”
Defenders Jarrod Lienert and Riley Bonner and rookie forward Boyd Woodcock appear most likely to make way for the trio.
Port held top spot on the ladder for the entire season, becoming just the seventh team in VFL/AFL history to hold first place for the duration of a home-and-away fixtures.
But the Power, who lost just three games, are still ranked fourth by bookies in the premiership market, behind Richmond, Geelong and Brisbane.
Voss was dismissive of the lack of love from bookies and many so-called experts.
“We haven’t used any of that as motivation for the whole year, so I don’t know why we would start now,” Voss said.
The triple Brisbane premiership captain also said Port’s stunning minor-season success now counted for little.
“All it means is we have put ourselves in a great position, we have qualified as best as we possibly can,” he said.
“But it guarantees nothing. And we understand that and there’s plenty of work to be done.”