As an AFL lover, Ken Hinkley is excited.
But as Port Adelaide’s coach, he’s wary of Sunday’s twilight encounter with Greater Western Sydney.
“It’s a cracking game,” Hinkley said of the Adelaide Oval meeting between his fifth-placed outfit and the seventh-placed Giants.
“Not that long ago, the messages that we were hearing about GWS is they were gone, their season was washed – it’s not happening, is it?”
The Giants have won five of their past six games to rekindle their premiership hopes.
And Port has banked seven wins in their past nine matches – the two losses have been by a combined 12 points.
Hinkley noted Sunday’s fixture would pit two remarkably similar teams against each other.
“Both are probably missing a ruck and both, our midfield is quite strong, their midfield is really strong.
“It’s a great challenge for both teams. It’s a really good game, to be honest.”
Port will make two changes from the side which slipped to a nine-point loss to Fremantle last weekend, with ruckman Paddy Ryder sidelined by a hip injury and halfback Riley Bonner dropped.
Hinkley has summoned Jarrod Lienert for his AFL debut and also recalled experienced backman Jasper Pittard.
Port’s All Australian goalsneak Robbie Gray has been cleared of concussion and will front against a Giants side which features Brett Deledio, after a 10-week absence, to replace the injured Ryan Griffen.
The Power will call on regular forwards Justin Westhoff and Charlie Dixon to share the rucking load in Ryder’s absence, leaving Hinkley to recast his attack.
“Clearly we will be a bit smaller (in attack) because of that, but we have got some flexibility in that space,” he said.
“We have got plenty of mids that can go forward, we have got plenty of other people that can play in that spot.”