Port Adelaide won’t disrupt their winning formula by applying a hard tag on Richmond ace Dustin Martin in Friday night’s AFL preliminary final.

Martin’s influence on the Adelaide Oval encounter looms large but the Power have opted against deploying a tagger this season.

And Port skipper Tom Jonas says there’s no reason to change despite the high-stakes nature of the looming final.

“He (Martin) will get the respect he deserves,” Jonas said.

“But I think we will stick to our game. We haven’t shown that we tag players much this year.

“If you shut down Dusty, you open the door for (Trent) Cotchin and (Shane) Edwards, so there’s lots of threats there.

“We just stick to what we do well.”

Jonas expected Richmond to take a similar outlook in the preliminary final, doubting they’ll opt for a run-with role on any Port midfielder.

“It’s just going to be a genuine head-to-head clash,” he said.

“Both teams have probably got plenty of respect for each other and you have obviously got to give them their dues for what they have done through the year.”

Key defender Jonas said Port had yet to discuss their first-choice backline match-ups for a Tiger attack headed by talls Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt.

Fullback Trent McKenzie will take one, with Tom Clurey and Jonas candidates for the other.

Jonas also expected Martin to be stationed in attack at times, presenting another problem for the Port defence.

“I always like to get that mid-tier role and be able to drop off and maybe get a touch and get away from the goal square,” Jonas said.

“Because it’s never that much fun being stuck in the cage on Dusty or Jack.

“But I’m pretty comfortable with whatever (match-up) and I know the other boys are.

“They have had big tasks throughout the year and equipped themselves really well, so pretty confident in whatever those match-ups are.”