PORT Adelaide has been dealt a blow on the eve of its NAB Cup opener against Adelaide and Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on Friday night, with emerging ruckman Matthew Lobbe dislocating his shoulder at training.

2011 Preseason Coverage

Lobbe, 21, had been pencilled in to lead the Power’s ruck on Friday night in the absence of veteran Dean Brogan, who will be rested, but instead the three-game tall faces a two-month stint on the sidelines.

Coach Matthew Primus said the club would call upon untried ruckman Jarrad Redden and rookie Daniel Bass to carry the ruck duties in place of the injured Lobbe.

"It’s more about getting some game time into those guys [Redden and Bass]," Primus said on Monday.

"With Lobbe going down it’s pretty important we know what’s coming through after Dean.

"It’s going to be a fast game with the rules that are in place. The games are only 40 minutes long, so it won’t look too much like a home-and-away game, but it’s important for them to have a run around."

There was more bad news on the injury front for the Power, with Primus revealing first-round draft pick Ben Jacobs was suffering from a "more severe" bout of glandular fever.

Jacobs, 19, was diagnosed with the energy-sapping condition on Wednesday, after falling ill last weekend.

Primus said the club hadn’t put a return date on the skilful defender’s return.

"It’s a little bit more severe than we would’ve liked, so Ben’s probably not going to come back in the real short term, but at least he’s got three or four months of solid training under his belt," Primus said.

"We’ll just have to wait and see how quickly his body gets over it."

Port Adelaide will select a squad of 29 players for its two 40-minute games against the Crows and the Dees.

Lobbe, (shoulder), Jacob Surjan (knee), David Rodan (knee), Hamish Hartlett (hamstring), Jay Schulz (hamstring), Jacobs (glandular fever), Travis Boak (appendix), Jason Davenport (shoulder), Andrew Moore (groin) and Brogan have already been ruled out, while Chad Cornes, Daniel Motlop and impressive draftee Cam O’Shea are confirmed starters.

The AFL will trial several rules during this year’s NAB Cup including the last touch out of bounds rule, which penalises the last player to make contact with the ball before it goes over the boundary line with a free-kick against.

Primus said the combination of reduced game time and experimental rules meant the lightning cup-format games on Friday night would be irrelevant to his team’s preparation for round one.

"[As I said] it won’t look too much like a home-and-away game…so this week doesn’t really hold much significance to how round one is going to be played," Primus said.