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Port coach tips duo to overcome AFL injury

3 minute read

Port coach Ken Hinkley says ex-captain Travis Boak will play against Brisbane on Sunday but doubt remains over ruck Scott Lycett.

TRAVIS BOAK of the Power leads his team out onto the field during the AFL match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Port Adelaide Power at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
TRAVIS BOAK of the Power leads his team out onto the field during the AFL match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Port Adelaide Power at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Port Adelaide AFL coach Ken Hinkley is confident Travis Boak and ruckman Scott Lycett will overcome injuries and play against Brisbane on Sunday..

Boak was a late withdrawal from Port's 57-point hammering of Adelaide last Saturday after suffering back spasms in the pre-game warm-up.

Lycett copped a knock to a knee but played out the game, though he was on light duties at Thursday training.

He will face a match-eve fitness test on Saturday.

"I'm very confident they (both) will be okay," Hinkley told reporters.

"We didn't run Scotty much today deliberately - it wasn't because he couldn't, it's because we deliberately waited."

Paddy Ryder will be named in Port's 26-man squad for Sunday's fixture as ruck cover for Lycett.

And former Fremantle utility Cam Sutcliffe will also be included in the extended squad after Port recruited him in the mid-season draft.

Sutcliffe, 27, had been playing for Port Adelaide Magpies in the state league and Hinkley rated him "a real chance" of earning AFL selection.

"He has been playing really good footy ... he has been playing a number of roles for us in the Magpies, he has played in all three parts of the ground," Hinkley said.

"So he gives us a lot of flexibility. And he has worked damn hard, lets be honest.

"He was a mid-season draft so to do what he has done and get himself in a position where he is now considered seriously for AFL selection is great credit."

But Hinkley said he would be unwilling to change a winning side too much.

"Whether we make one or two or three changes, my history would suggest that we don't make too many changes off a winning formula," he said.

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