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PORT Adelaide coach Matthew Primus has declared he's almost certain forward Jay Schulz will line up for the Power against Hawthorn on Sunday.

The deadly accurate Schulz has made significant contributions to all four Power wins this season, including seven stunning goals against North Melbourne in round eight.
 
He was in serious doubt for Sunday's clash earlier in the week due to badly bruised ribs.

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But, having trained on Thursday, Primus gave him an 80 per cent chance of playing.

"We really won't know until tomorrow, we may even make the call on Sunday," Primus said.

"He's going to be sore regardless of how long we let it go, it's just a matter of determining how comfortable he is playing with it.

"I would think he's 70/30, 80/20 at the moment…and getting better."

Primus didn't think the Hawks would target Schulz's ribs on Sunday, saying the strategy of deliberately targeting a player's injury was no longer a part of the game.

"I think that's out of the game now," he said.

"He'll get bumped and stuff, but he gets bumped as a forward.

"The way 'Schulzy' plays he certainly throws himself around so, if anything, he's going to hurt himself more than the opposition will."

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The likely inclusion of Schulz is a timely boost given the omission of key midfielder Travis Boak due to injury.

Boak will miss a month of football after undergoing surgery to release a plantar fascia that has caused him discomfort since the beginning of the season. 

With one of the Power's best players out of the picture, Primus said the pressure on emerging stars Hamish Hartlett and Matthew Broadbent was expected to increase.

"We can't actually replace what Travis can do," Primus admitted.

"We'll replace [Boak] with midfielders, but obviously the calibre of Travis is a little bit more difficult [to replace].

"The amount of attention the opposition put into Travis, that's certainly going to be different, so whether Hamish or Broadbent get a bit more attention...we'll see what happens with that on the weekend."

But Primus denied Boak's absence and the resultant pressure heaped on others was a negative, claiming it presented the likes of Hartlett and Broadbent with a unique opportunity.

"It will be a great lesson for them if they do get targeted," he said.

"It'd be a great challenge for Hamish or 'Broady' if they do get some attention put to them because they haven't had that."

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Port Adelaide used two primary ruckmen to great effect against Carlton last weekend, with Brent Renouf and Jarrad Redden sharing the duties for the entire match.

Primus said he believed a similar ascendency could be achieved against Hawthorn.

"We thought it gave us an edge against Carlton, our rucks were able to maintain some intensity rather than one of them get cooked," he said.

"The way Hawthorn play we think we might be able to get some dominance in the ruck."

Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry