Port Adelaide are bracing for their recruit Jimmy Toumpas to cop abuse from his former AFL club Melbourne this weekend.
Toumpas on Saturday will play against the Demons for the first time since walking out on them and crossing to Port.
“I suppose it will be, not strange for Jimmy, but exciting for him to go up against his old boys and have a bit of a crack at them,” Port defender Matthew Broadbent told reporters on Wednesday.
“They will probably give a bit of lip and that sort of thing but … we will look after Jimmy and hopefully get the result.”
South Australian-born Toumpas played 27 AFL games for Melbourne from 2013 before being lured back to his home city.
And the fleet-footed utility has impressed his new teammates with a thorough work ethic ahead of lining up against the Demons in Saturday’s pre-season fixture at Elizabeth Oval in Adelaide’s north.
“His consistency over the whole pre-season has been really strong … he has certainly built himself a really good base,” Broadbent said.
Port had also tapped into Toumpas’ inside knowledge of Melbourne’s game plans before Saturday’s encounter.
“He has been obviously in their camp and knows how they play – they might have tweaked a few things over pre-season as well – but he’s certainly given us a little bit of insight into what they do, it’s handy,” he said.
Port rested its established senior core for last weekend’s pre-season loss in Sydney but expect the likes of captain Travis Boak, vice-captains Brad Ebert and Matthew Lobbe, and Robbie Gray, Hamish Hartlett, Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff to return for the clash against Melbourne.
“Over the next couple of weeks, certainly in preparation for round one, we will pick as strong team as we can,” Broadbent said.