Port have their captain (Wines) out still who is trying to gain match fitness in the SANFL this week along with their best KPF (Dixon) who is doing the same. Their best runner and leading goalkicker before injury (Ebert) is still out with concussion. Their best clearance mid (Rockliff) has missed the past couple of weeks with a hammy and is no certainty to return along with their former skipper and best rebound defender (Hartlett).
They're some pretty important players Port could be missing and if you add Broadbent to that who has been one of their best mids since his return averaging a career best 22 touches and 5 marks and Watts who adds plenty to their set up forward and linking through the middle then you can see some holes in their line up. They do have a lot of kids getting a go (much more than us) and stepping up for them though such as Lienert, Duursma, Bonner, Houston, Burton, Butters, Rozee, Powell-Pepper and Farrell who are all 22 or under and played in the last game. There are another 3 (Amon, Howard and Byrne-Jones) who have just turned 23 and are becoming senior members of the side.
It just goes to show, a team can suffer injuries but if you have some good kids coming through, you can still remain competitive and not fall off a cliff.
