Port Adelaide's young defenders face one of their greatest tests this AFL season on Friday night, when they attempt to shutdown Collingwood superstar Jordan De Goey without the help of co-captain Tom Jonas.
Jonas played on De Goey last year but will remain on the sidelines for at least another week because of his calf injury.
It means Port coach Ken Hinkley will have to find someone else to mind De Goey, who has booted 16 goals this year while also busting games open during stints on the ball.
"It's a good opportunity for our younger defenders to take on one of the greats ... it's a really difficult challenge," Hinkley told reporters in Adelaide.
"Tommy Jonas is probably our go-to guy for those types of players."
Hinkley rattled off the names of Tom Clurey, Dougal Howard, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Dan Houston, Riley Bonner, Ryan Burton and Jarrod Lienert while discussing De Goey's potential opponents.
Hinkley was obviously unwilling to give too much away on the eve of the Marvel Stadium match between third-placed Collingwood and fifth-placed Port, but the long list also underlines De Goey's potency and versatility.
The Power's defence has been largely unheralded this year, even after keeping reigning premiers West Coast to a score of 8.5 (53) that set the platform for a round-five upset.
"That's sometimes an advantage," Hinkley said.
"We've been really comfortable with the development of our young back line for the best part of 18 months. They've taken another step up this year, a lot of them.
"They're going to have to continue to take steps up for us to become a really strong football team."
If ruckmen Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett are able to limit the influence of Magpies' counterpart Brodie Grundy, it will also go a long way to delivering Port the four premiership points.
Grundy had a season-low 10 disposals in last year's grand final, suggesting Lycett will have a couple of pointers to pass on to Ryder.
"I'm sure they always share information about who they've played against ... what worked and what didn't," Hinkley said.
Port will climb to second on the ladder if they bank a third consecutive Friday-night win, having bettered the Eagles and North Melbourne during the past fortnight.
"It's absolutely exciting because we know what we're coming up against," Hinkley said.
"One of the in-form teams of the competition ... one of the benchmarks and we'll measure ourselves a bit and see how we go.
"It'd be nice to go three from three from Fridays."
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