Port Adelaide have put the present ahead of the future by choosing old stager Brendon Lade instead of Fabian Deluca for Sunday's AFL showdown against Adelaide.

Lade, relegated to the SANFL in recent weeks to allow Port a better look at emerging ruckman Deluca, was recalled alongside Steven Salopek for what shapes as another willing scrap between two sides low on confidence but high on desperation.

A bleak weather forecast for Sunday ruled out the slight possibility of Port entering the match with three talls, and Power ruck/midfield coach Matthew Primus said Lade's selection was perhaps a case of the best fit for Sunday rather than the rest of the year.

"Fabian was okay against the Bulldogs, wasn't great last week, do we really put the acid on him and see how he performs against the Crows guys or do we bring in an experienced player?" Primus said.

"We know what we're going to get with Brendon and we'll see how we go from there - that's the decision, what's best for the next six or seven weeks or what's best for Sunday."

Port's recall of two ageing warriors is as good an indicator as any that they have set their minds on winning the showdown as the last defiant kick in a year of underachievement.

The Crows have taken a slightly longer term view on their options by naming tall utility Brad Moran, traded from North Melbourne last year, for his first senior match in Adelaide colours.

Moran impressed in patches during his pre-season cup appearances but has battled injury and indifferent form for long stretches of the season proper.

Andrew McLeod and Luke Jericho have also been recalled, McLeod likely to spend time in attack alongside Jericho, who is likely to be cast in the Brett Burton free-roaming forward role.

Primus said Port would draw up a number of options to oppose McLeod, all but conceding that Kane Cornes would not apply his usual tag if the dual Norm Smith Medallist started up forward.

"He'll probably bob up at some stage, whether we think Kane's a good match-up if McLeod's playing forward, probably not but we'll wait and see how that goes," Primus said.

"We're sure Andrew will play different variations across the ground."

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