Port Adelaide senior coach Josh Carr is comfortable with taking a smaller backline into the St Kilda clash this weekend, with Kane Farrell returning to add some run to the side. 

The last time the two clubs met was in Gather Round, with the Saints getting on top by 14 points. 

Speaking with the Adelaide media on Friday, Carr discussed Brandon Zerk-Thatcher’s omission, Jason Horne Francis’ blossoming maturity and how the group’s mindset is placed to tackle the back end of the season. 

Carr on Kane Farrell returning to the side 
“It’s nice to have Faz back. He's a leader of the group, especially the back six, back seven, and obviously can use a footy well, and he's really confident in his body this week after a couple of weeks off, so it’s good to have him back. 

“It’s always nice (to not have to change the team too much), consistency week to week (is good). Obviously the one change, and feeling like the last couple weeks with a couple of wins, it's a reward for that group and reward for players playing their role.” 

Carr on going in with a smaller backline 
“Yeah, we back in the group. If we need to make moves to get someone taller down there, I think we can. We've got Luko (Lukosius) on the wing, and obviously Vis (Visentini) playing forward, so if we really need to pull those levers, we will, but we feel like the back seven with that group gives us a bit of flexibility, and there will be some good run.” 

Carr on Brandon Zerk-Thatcher being omitted 
“Off the back of the last couple of weeks to get a couple of wins, and him being a part of that (he probably is a bit unlucky). In the end, we're still searching to make our team better every week, and Faz coming back, we feel like we can cover off those talls, and Brandon's the unlucky one. 

“We just felt like in the in the third quarter (last weekend) we probably lacked a little bit of run in that back six (so Zerk-Thatcher spent some time on the bench). So we obviously shifted Jase Burgoyne back for the last quarter, and that worked for us there, but we'll reset Jase this week. We know that he can go back there and play that role when we need it.” 

Carr on the mindset for the rest of the season 
“My mindset is we approach every week the same, and that's to win the game that we're playing this week. I don't know if I’ll ever allow our eyes to lift. Naturally your thought process, and everyone would be the same, you can think about it, and you'd love to be a part of it, but in the end, we’ve just got to take care of the week by week process.” 

Carr on the wildcard round 
“It makes the game interesting. It makes every game still live, and to be still live, and to try and be a part of it, you're striving for something. So for me right now where we sit, you'd say, it's good because there's something on the end of it, but as I said, you can look at it that way, but at the same time, we've got to take care of our week to week process.” 

Carr on Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera 
“I think he gives everyone sleepless nights. He's a really good player, and we've come up against some great players over the last month or two, so our planning into him is no different than those guys. Ultimately, we've got to play well as a team. 

“Jase (Burgoyne) did a really good job in the first quarter (against Nasiah the last time we played St Kilda). I think Naz had four touches, he got away from us a little bit in the second, and we dropped the tag at halftime. We have these discussions all the time about a tag and when it works and when it doesn't work, and for us a coaching group, it's a week to week proposition, and what that looks like. You're planning into all of the better players each week….and obviously sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.” 

Carr on Jason Horne-Francis having captaincy aspirations 
“Yeah, I love it. I love players to have aspirations, and he's such a great teammate and the maturity he showed from year to year, even from the start of this pre-season to where he is now, he's developed himself. I love the fact he's in the leadership group these days, and he's getting better. So him aspiring to be a captain of this football club, I’d love a number of players to be thinking that way.” 

Carr on the evolution of the leadership group 
“We bring guys in and out of it a lot. And (Horne-Francis) is a regular in that now, so it's always evolving with what that looks like in year. We obviously announced something at the start of the year, but that doesn't mean there's players that are excluded from it. We'll bring guys in and out as we, as we go through the year.” 

Carr on Jason Horne-Francis’ increasing maturity 
“Experience is a wonderful thing at this level in this sport, and understanding what your game looks like week to week. He's just getting a better understanding of that week in, week out, but also year in, year out, as well. His form’s being been great, but I'm sure he would tell you first that he can't do that without the support of his teammates, and what we're doing as a group.” 

Carr on Sam Powell-Pepper 
“We totally understand where it sits with him right now. In the middle of winter, the oval’s aren’t great, he hasn't done a pre-season in a while, so we've taken it out of his hands. We've had some good discussions over the last few days on what that looks like. So, Pep won't play again this year. We think the best thing for him is to get through the rest of this year and then attack the pre-season. So, we sat down together, and he's really comfortable with that and he’s happy to go, you know what? Let's have a good pre-season so when we go into next year, he's fully confident in his body. 

“I think he's feeling comfortable. Everyone knows what Pep's like. He wants to be out there and play, but he wants to be at his best to do that, and it just doesn't feel quite right. And we totally get it.” 

Carr on Mitch Georgiades 
“You would have guys would have noticed he hasn't been out there fully training, so we're just looking after him, and we're attacking it that way. His output in the last five weeks, probably have been the biggest output in his career, so we have an understanding of that, and we're just trying to look after him (by managing him through the week).”