Port Adelaide have suffered a blow on the eve of their cut-throat AFL semi-final against Hawthorn with Ryan Burton ruled out with a calf injury.
The 27-year-old defender underwent a secret fitness test on Thursday morning ahead of the captain’s run.
But he failed to get through it and was ruled out of facing his former side.
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It’s yet another blow to the Power’s halfback line with Dan Houston (suspended) and Kane Farrell (hamstring) also missing.
Burton has been in and out of the senior side this year, playing 14 games.
But he was among the Power’s best in their disastrous loss to Geelong last week with 21 touches and one goal.
Josh Sinn is looming as the likely replacement for Burton.
Coach Ken Hinkley will also need to make a call on his underperforming forward line.
Todd Marshall appears likely to come in, but whether Hinkley continues with Charlie Dixon remains to be seen.
There are reports that Jed McEntee could be the unlucky player to make way.
Zak Butters is a confirmed starter despite being subbed out last week with a rib injury.
Meanwhile, Hinkley expects to serve his contract to coach Port Adelaide next year regardless of the result of his club’s semi-final result
Hinkley is contracted until the end of next season but faces exiting the finals with consecutive defeats for a second-straight season should Port lose on Friday night.
“I’m not going to be a smart ass here in any way, shape or form – but I’m contracted,” Hinkley told reporters on Thursday.
“That is what the board have told me all the way through.
“They have shown me great support the entire journey. I trust that that will always be the same.”
Hinkley said of speculation he would face the axe or step down should the Power lose: “That’s uneducated. It’s not the facts.
“I get why the conversation keeps coming up,” he said.
“But the reality is, I’m preparing this week to help our team find a way of getting in to a prelim final.
“That has got too much riding on it for me to spend any time in those other places you want me to go. I just won’t go there.”
Hinkley, in his 12th season at Port, will coach the South Australian club for a 273rd time on Friday night, equalling Mark Williams’s record as the Power’s longest-serving coach.
“Those sort of things, in some ways remarkable that I got to this point,” he said.
“But the reality is I reflect on those things after your career. And hopefully there’s a lot more to go.”
The 57-year-old holds the unwanted record of coaching the most games in VFL/AFL history without reaching a grand final.
– With AAP