DAN Houston came to Port Adelaide as a rookie draftee in 2016 as a forward. He has made his name in the AFL as a defender. He starts his sixth national-league season looking at a new role in the midfield.

The 24-year-old might still get a run as a half-forward.

And even after 100 AFL matches, Houston remains open to taking on any duty that suits his team while the pundits seek to cast him in just one role.

Houston has had a solid run of 17, 22, 21, 17 and 23 senior games in his five seasons so far. He has a clear vision of how his sixth season at Alberton will play out with his precise ball use, particularly with kicks inside-50, to be a major gain for the team.

"I am going to try to move up the ground this year," Houston said at Alberton on Tuesday. "I have tried to do that in the past few years. I do want to settle into the midfield - and I think I can bring moving the ball up the ground into my game and the team game.

"That would help us score a bit more. And it would give the forwards more delivery. Ryan Burton and Riley Bonner are the same; we can have a mix of being at half-back and higher up the ground to help move the ball nicely into the forward line.

"I can play back and wing with a bit more offence off the wing. I look forward to that.

"I play where I get told to play. I try my best to learn that role. I am happy to go back inside, play half-forward if I need to or half-back. I am not set (in one role) and opportunities change with injury and form. I am happy to play where I am the best fit for the team.

"Over the past few years I have been playing half-back, outside, inside. I have to switch mindset to be able to play multiple roles - and do that consistently. That is part of my game. That is what I bring to the team - playing multiple roles. When I do that well it definitely helps the team."

Houston starts 2022 with confidence in his body after clearing a shoulder issue during the pre-season.

"I struggled (last year) to train during the week and was playing off no training," Houston recalled. "I struggled without that continuity of training during the week. That definitely impacted on me, struggling to train and even sleep on a sore shoulder joint.

"It also holds you back mentally not being able to train. It is hard to back yourself in when you have not done the work (at training). Once you are out there, I was playing 100 per cent but it was definitely in the back of my mind that I had not done the work during the week and that makes it harder to play.

"I have made it through pre-season fine."

Port Adelaide's pre-season closes on Saturday with the sold-out summer Showdown clash with Adelaide at Richmond Oval on Saturday in the lone AAMI Community Series match for the South Australian rivals.

The question of how Port Adelaide "turns up to play" seems naturally answered by the personal pride and ambitions fired up in the deep running rivalry with Adelaide, even in a pre-season game.

Port Adelaide's desire in derbies - including summer Showdowns - is rarely in question.

"It is different as a practice game, but there is no doubt about the rivalry," Houston said. "Even if it is a practice game we want to win. The rivalry is still there. No question about that. 

"The boys will have more intensity this week because it is a Showdown."

But what happened at the Gold Coast on Friday when Port Adelaide's poor start and lack of intensity at the contest carried on from the home preliminary final that brought a sharp end to Season 2021?

"It was not the way we planned to start our 2022 season, even though it was a practice game," Houston said. "We still expected to go in playing as we have trained all season. We were definitely out-hunted and out-worked in the first half in particular. We thought things were just going to happen .... and we would play the game on our terms.

"That definitely did not work out that way when we were not up for the hunt and the fight early on. That is something we will definitely work on this week - the contest, hunting teams and staying in (the contest) for longer when things are not going our way.

"We will look (at the starts) this week. It is a mindset thing. We did not rock up in the first half. That hurt us in the prelim (against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval) last year. That is something we want to get out of our game. We have looked at it early this weekend we think it is an intensity and mindset thing. 

"We will be looking to shift that this week. There is no question about that.

"We just have to be better at scrapping it out. We won't always have the game on our terms. We can't rock up and think it is just going to happen. 

"Our mindset needs to be we are going into a game to scrap it out the whole way. We have to think it is not a game we will win by 60 points, but by one. When the game is not on our terms, we have to be able to stay in it. It won't just happen.

"There aren't alarm bells. We can work on improving. Hopefully, by round one we can just focus on playing footy with our intensity up.

"Our (2020 and 2021) seasons did not end as we wanted. We know we have to improve to go further. The weight of expectation - and the need to improve - always has been there. But we have a hungry group with a lot of young guys wanting to take their game to the next level. And (veterans) like Travis Boak and Robbie Gray still want to go to the next level as well. 

"As a team, we have identified in our stoppage and contested ball (that how when) we lose (in this area) and we can lose heavily (on the scoreboard). We have mixed a few things up with younger players around the ball. 

"We are not going to win contested ball in every game. But we have adjusted our stoppage stuff and our contested work to win the game even if we lose (the statistics in those categories). That is something we have definitely worked on and will take us to the next level. We are still pushing to go one step further."

"There is a lot of fire in the belly. We are hungry - there is no doubt about that. We don't want to drop off (after top-four finishes in the past two years). We don't want to go backwards."

Houston expects the Port Adelaide match committee to reduce squad numbers from the 30 played against Gold Coast to the home-and-away regulation 23 this week. 

"We will get more game time - and you will see what the team could look like for round one (against Brisbane at the Gabba on March 19," Houston said.

The summer Showdown will be shown on Kayo with the first bounce at 3:40pm.