Port Adelaide have lost yet another experienced figure for their clash against ladder-leaders Fremantle on Saturday, with experienced defender Kane Farrell coming out of their side due to a groin issue.

Farrell was named in the Power’s initial team for their date with the Dockers at Adelaide Oval but was withdrawn after failing to complete their captain’s run on Friday.

He joins a lengthy list of absentees for his side which includes superstar Zak Butters (ankle), captain Connor Rozee (hamstring), WA’s Mitch Georgiades (concussion) and another star in Jason Horne-Francis (suspension).

The left-footer has been replaced by three-game backman Harrison Ramm, whose addition means his team will field 11 players with fewer than 50 appearances at the top level to their credit as they confront the premiership favourites.

Fremantle, who have the competition’s equal-sixth youngest list, have come into only five of their 17 games throughout a stunning season figuring as the older side.

But this weekend, they will boast a significant advantage in experience over Port Adelaide. The averages from the Dockers’ 23-player line-up for the contest are 107.8 games worth of experience and an age just shy of 26 years old, while their counterparts compare at 77.3 and just over 24 respectively.

The size of the task the hosts will face is also evident in the AFL’s player ratings. Totalling the Power’s players who will come up against Fremantle produces a figure of 139.18 — which is dwarfed by the Dockers’ 211.97.

The absence of Butters and Horne-Francis means Fremantle will have eight of the top 10 rated players featuring in the game, with every player in that group bar the Power’s ruckman Jordon Sweet and stand-in captain Willem Drew to be in purple.

Shai Bolton — who player ratings have graded as the Dockers’ second-best player so far this season, behind only superstar ruckman Luke Jackson — will not feature in the game to help manage an ongoing hand issue.

But Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has resisted any temptation to rest more of his stars, saying players would not spend time on the sidelines in the run-in to September if they did not need to.

“Bolts we could have pushed through. We could have managed this injury, but he’ll benefit in the long run from just having a week off. So, those type of situations are no-brainers,” he said.

“We haven’t got a lot of guys that are flagging in terms of needing a week off. We just went through a six-day and a five-day break.

“We’ve had there a longer break coming into this game, so it made sense with Bolts. But we’re not going to say that there’s going to be mass resting or mass management over the next couple of weeks.”