PORT ADELAIDE has a Showdown trophy to reclaim – and an even bigger prize to chase – at the 56th South Australian derby. And the timing of Saturday night’s derby at Adelaide Oval continues the “finals-like” script to prepare Ken Hinkley’s group for its fourth AFL finals series in five years.

While the opponent from across the neighbourhood has no September booking again, Hinkley expects the Showdown rivalry to deliver to Port Adelaide’s need while a top-four berth to next month’s finals is on the line.

“It is great preparation,” Hinkley said while Port Adelaide enters the derby ranked second to Sydney. “We know the build-up is big … and there is a little bit more on a Showdown based on the rivalry. We love being a part of this game and this rivalry. It is a great rivalry.

“And it is good preparation (for what is to come for Port Adelaide in September). We are in a really good challenging stretch (after playing Sydney, Carlton and Melbourne in must-win duels).

“Those games have put us in a good position to take care of (the Showdown).”

Port Adelaide has left the inevitable Showdown jibes to be made from the non-finalist rival at West Lakes.

“Our focus,” Hinkley said, “clearly has been to get ourselves in a position where we can capitalise on the work we have done this far. It is a big game for us.

“We always have been confident on what our best looks like. And when we play at our best, we know we can play against any team in the competition and be successful. We have to remain confident about what we do. And accurate with what we review.”

Of the silence from Alberton this week, Hinkley did note that Port Adelaide’s recent attempts to add to the theatre of the rivalry have had “people pretty quick to jump” at the club.

“Whenever we have put some theatre into it,” Hinkley said, “people jump on it. And when results go against us, we cop it. And cop it good.”

SELECTION: Ryan Burton returns to the AFL line-up – after dealing with a nagging foot injury – for the first time since round 13 (the clash with Carlton).

His selection also brings the question of where he will play – defence or attack – and Hinkley is savouring such flexibility.

“Ryan is a quality player and he has great flexibility,” Hinkley said. “He allows us great freedom to do what we want at either end of the ground.

“We clearly have some challenges in our front half with players (Marshall and Georgiades) unavailable. He gives us some opportunities.”

The ruck challenge against Malcolm Blight Medallist Reilly O’Brien remains – as it was in the previous Showdown – with Jordon Sweet.

Hinkley declared Dante Visentini was more pressing at selection than Ivan Soldo who is returning from a knee injury in the SANFL.

“Soldo has played just one game from a long break,” Hinkley said. “To be fair to him, we need to give him the opportunity to build his form. And to be fair to Jordon, he has played very well. He owns his spot in the ruck at the moment. Ivan is building some consistency. Dante Visentini was closer than Ivan.”

THE KEY: AFL games are repeatedly described as “won in the midfield” – and Port Adelaide knows from the past three derbies that the contest numbers do tell the story of how the Showdowns are won by the team that brings the heat and stands up in the hot spots around stoppages.

This is a bigger challenge for the Connor Rozee-led midfield when Port Adelaide also needs a strong outside input from its on-ballers translating to the scoreboard.

“We reflect on that with honesty,” Hinkley said of the recent lessons taken in Showdown losses. “Some of those things are true. Some we can control. But we will start at nil-all on (Saturday night).

“We are looking at this as an opportunity to get better.”

SCOREBOARD: No Mitch Georgiades, who has lit up the scoreboard in his comeback year after being sidelined by a knee injury. No Todd Marshall who is in the concussion protocols. The Port Adelaide attack appears makeshift and needing to answer the challenge of scoring at least 12-14 goals.

In question is which players will bite an opposition defence that has dealt with intense inside-50 pressure from the Western Bulldogs last weekend.

“We still have most of the team out there,” Hinkley said. “Last week we did not score well against a really dour Melbourne team that was great at restricting us. We have shown not that long back that we can score. And we can score pretty quickly if we have to.

“We are about the collective group being able to put some pressure on the scoreboard. It is not one or two players who do it for us alone. We need to make sure it is a shared role. We have done that most of the year. We are consistent around our scoring. We are averaging around 90-odd points.”