Port Adelaide have confirmed defender Kane Farrell is pressing his case for a potential finals recall after initially being ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
Farrell's 2024 campaign was said to be over after the dashing defender suffered the setback on the eve of the Power's finals series in the Round 24 win over Fremantle.
The club suspected that Farrell's injury would keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season, only for the 25-year-old to work through his rehabilitation ahead of schedule.
While still an outside chance to play this week, Farrell remains in the mix and will look to get through training over the coming days to potentially be ready for a spot in Ken Hinkley's side, whether that be for Friday's preliminary final or a potential grand final spot.
Speaking to media on Monday, Port Adelaide backline coach Tyson Goldsack said Farrell is pressing to play, but the club won't risk a line ball decision.
"He's training. He started kicking over the weekend and is feeling okay. He kind of needs to hit high speed probably more often then (give) repeat efforts," Goldsack said.
"We'll just keep training him, and he'll keep pushing along, and we'll just see where the next few days leads to. It's probably not a risk we really want to take. We know the quality player that is, but do you risk it in a prelim? We don't know yet. We'll just see how he progresses over the next couple days.
"He wouldn't be training if he didn't think it was a chance. He's got nothing to lose. He can push it as hard as he wants, knowing that if he reinjures it at training, then at least he gave it a go. So that's kind of his mindset. He'll just keep pushing along.
"Whether it's for this week, whether it's for next year, he'll be in a better spot by trying."
Farrell's absence, coupled with All-Australian Daniel Houston's suspension, has opened the door for Ryan Burton to take the leading role as the rebounding backman in Hinkley's rearguard.
The Power were forced to delve into their depth options further for last Friday's semi-final when a calf issue ruled Burton out of the matchup against Hawthorn, opening a spot for youngster Josh Sinn to play.
Burton is another defender who is no certainty to return this week, with the former Hawk needing to pass further tests in the build-up to the club's trip to Sydney this week.
"It definitely a one-week injury. Whether it's a two-week injury, we'll wait and see again," Goldsack added.
"You want to test them out so we want to get him to train it in our main session and perform and train well, and then we'll make a decision.
"It's a weird injury that he had. It actually wasn't muscular. It was more a blood vessel issue that caused some swelling and irritation in the area so he didn't actually hurt a muscle.
"There was a chance that he would, though, because he had tightness in certain movements he had, so we're going to make sure that that subsided and he didn't do all the movements necessary for four quarters of footy."
Father-son flanker Jase Burgoyne rose to the occasion as a defensive outlet for Hinkley and Goldsack to call on, with the young wingman returning to his traditional role as a running defender against the Hawks.
Burgoyne was arguably Port Adelaide's best at Adelaide Oval last week, collecting 25 disposals, five rebound 50s, seven contested possessions, nine marks and a goal to earn 18 Zero Hanger MVP votes.Â
"He has played a lot of footy there. In his first year he was a defender and was really good. And then now he's played every game on the wing, but still knows a role in there," Goldsack said of the 21-year-old.
"A high back and a wing role is pretty similar the way that we play him. He adapted nicely and I thought he was outstanding. His contest as well as his ball use was great.
"We knew he could play the role. We knew he knew the details of the role. We didn't need him because we liked him on the wing, and then it was required that he played there on the weekend, and as we expected, he was good.
"He's got this really laconic way of life, where he just kind of floats through. He works hard, and his attention to detail is there, but you don't see it, you don't really feel it, but he obviously has done a mountain of work in learning the roles he needs to know.
"(He) can go out there and we talk about the unfazed mentality of him, probably helps him out in big pressure games like that, and they perform really well."
Port Adelaide will name their 23-man lineup on Thursday at 6:20pm (AEST) ahead of their preliminary final clash with Sydney at the SCG on Friday night.
