PORT ADELAIDE development coach Matthew Lokan is set to take the reins of the club’s young list this weekend and is excited to see what they can produce.

The Power will face off against cross-town rivals Adelaide in an under 23s trial game at Thebarton Oval this Saturday, with several of Port’s draftees set to take centre stage.

“It’s a real exciting opportunity for the majority of our young guys to get out and play tomorrow,” Lokan told reporters at Alberton Oval on Friday morning.

“It’s been a long pre-season and for a lot of the guys it’s their first game for our footy club.

“I thought the boys trained great this morning and we’re really looking forward to getting into the game tomorrow.”

One young gun supporters will be excited to get a look at this season is father-son recruit Jackson Mead, who missed Port Adelaide’s intra-club match a fortnight ago due to a slight hamstring strain.

And while Lokan said the club would take no risks, it was exciting to have some familiar names running around at Alberton again.

“He’s (Mead) obviously had some restricted training over the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“We’ve got to make that call of whether he’s right exactly to go, but we won’t take any risks.

“We’ve got Jackson, we’ve got Trent Burgoyne who you’ll see tomorrow – it’s an exciting time.

“A number of our new guys to our football club are playing and we can’t wait to get into it.”

After entering the 2018 draft armed with three first-round picks, the Power again loaded up with high end talent at the 2019 draft.

Among those picked last November was Oakleigh Chargers forward Dylan Williams, and Lokan singled him out as one to watch on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Dylan play – he’s exciting,” he said.

“He only needs 6-7 possessions to be able to score 4-5 goals.

“He’s one of those young guys that we’ve brought into our football club that will have a really bright future and I can’t wait to see him play.”

Fellow 2019 draftees Miles Bergman (ankle) and Mitch Georgiades (managed) won’t play against Adelaide, but Lokan said both have impressed during their first AFL pre-season.

“Miles got through a rehab session today - he rolled his ankle last week,” he said.

“If he doesn’t play in the Marsh Community Series game next week, we’ll get him back for the first SANFL trial the following week.

“We’ve all been able to see what Mitch did through our intra-club and the start of the Marsh Community Series.

“He’s a little bit sore, so we thought the smarter option was just to give him a week off and let him freshen up and make him available for selection next week.”

Georgiades has been in the spotlight throughout the pre-season for his eye-catching athleticism and marking ability and Lokan said he would be right in the mix to make his AFL debut in round 1.

“He’s certainly close,” he said.

“That’s the good thing about our group. We’ve probably got 25-30 players that have put themselves right in the mix for round 1 and Mitch is certainly one of them.”

Promising speedster Jake Patmore will also make his return from a serious knee injury and Lokan is looking forward to seeing what he can do against the Crows.

“Jake Patmore gets to play his first game back from his knee reconstruction last year,” Lokan said.

“He played in the intra-club and did some really good things.

“He’ll play his first proper game so I’m really excited to see him.”

The Magpies coach said giving Port Adelaide’s youth a chance to stand on their own two feet and showcase their abilities is key to developing the club’s young list and giving them the best preparation for the start of the season.

“Getting more game time into guys like Todd Marshall and Kane Farrell is really exciting,” he said.

“Both of those guys are going to have really good AFL careers, but they just need some consistency with their form.

“This game provides that opportunity. Sure, we want to win, we want to be competitive against Adelaide, but we also need to make sure guys are getting into good form for the start of the season.

Action from the under 23 trial game gets underway from 12pm at Thebarton Oval this Saturday and will also be live streamed on portadelaidefc.com.au and the Official Port Adelaide App.