Port Adelaide and Fremantle each face a marathon wait for Sunday evening, as a host of results before their clash may determine where they will finish on the ladder.
For the Power, they are looking to lock in second spot and claim a home qualifying final, but do not know yet whether a win at Optus Stadium will be required.
Coach Ken Hinkley will not be swayed in his decision-making at the selection table no matter the equation, opting to field his strongest side regardless, to the concern of some who worry about their end-of-season list and injury management.
"We'll prepare like we have every week for this game to make sure we bring our best and play our best available people," Hinkley shared.
"We'll take three emergencies with us to make sure we've got full coverage."
Star skipper Connor Rozee and key cog recruit Esava Ratugolea may be hampered by illness in the clash, each missing training earlier this week, albeit with nothing major.
"We expect they'll be fine because it was earlier in the week," the Power coach said.
"They basically had a cold, so we expect they'll be okay."
The club have opted for key forward Todd Marshall to miss an extra week in concussion protocols after sustaining a head knock in Round 22 against Melbourne.
The 25-year-old does have history of concussive incidents, leaving the club to take appropriate caution.
"Todd's good, he's really well now... clearly, we've taken precaution through advice and through history that we'd give him an extra week, and I think that's a really smart thing to do."
"Todd will absolutely be available for us after this week."
Fellow key posters Mitch Georgiades (quad) and Jordon Sweet (elbow) have each been named despite their minor injury concerns, but the club must formulate a plan to replace the impact of suspended star Dan Houston, whose unsuccessful appeal leaves him still with a five-week suspension.
"It's clearly disappointing to lose a player of Dan's ability... the club did everything they could," Hinkley said.
"We take the umpire's decision, and we have to move on.
"We're very lucky with our half-backs... Dan Houston's probably going to be a two-time All-Australian by the end of the year, so it's going to be hard to replace that.
"(But) Ryan Burton's a very good player, Josh Sinn's a very good player, they might not quite be Dan Houston just yet, but we're hoping they can take a big slice of that."
Post-Showdown, footage swirled of a walk & talk between Hinkley and Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks, who appeared disgruntled, likely over losing star player Izak Rankine to a sickening hit.
Hinkley wouldn't share what was said between the two but opened up on the heat of the battle and the challenge of split-second decisions under fierce pressure.
"It was a private conversation," the Power coach added.
"It is an instinctive game to play. Mistakes will continue to happen in this game as much as we don't want them to."
"Our players are educated really well."
Hinkley now waits to assess the weekend's results before his side lines up at Optus for a pivotal clash or dead rubber against Fremantle.
