PORT Adelaide vice-captain Brad Ebert says he has thought about former teammate John McCarthy every time he has run onto the field since McCarthy's death last September.

McCarthy tragically died while on an end-of-season trip with Power players in Las Vegas.

The club's first home game of the 2013 season on Saturday night against Greater Western Sydney will act as a tribute to McCarthy's life and both sides will wear black armbands as a sign of respect.

Ebert said he still missed McCarthy, who he described as one of his best mates.

The 22-year-old, who plays his 100th AFL match on Saturday night, said it would be a challenge to keep a lid on his side's emotions, but he was confident the players would get the job done.

"I've thought about him every game. On the weekend we had the black armbands for him and this week again the game will be to honour him," Ebert said on Wednesday.

"There are obviously times when you get down, but you've got to try and remember the good times you had with him because he was a top fella and one of my best mates.

"There's going to be plenty of emotions going around and I guess a fair bit spoken about it, so it will be a tough one, but I think the boys have handled it amazingly well … that's one of the challenges we'll have this week.

"We know the way we want to play now and we're all pretty focused on that."

While pre-match video tributes, a minute's silence and special banners for both sides will feature as marks of respect, Ebert said the best way for the Power to honour McCarthy would be to beat the Giants.

"The end of last year was one of the toughest things we'll ever go through, losing John - this week's a good chance to honour him and get the win for him.

"We've all thought about it individually and I've spoken to a few of the boys about how they're feeling - everyone's making sure they're focused for the game."

As well as contending with the club's heightened emotional state, the Power must also atone for last season's embarrassing 34-point loss to the Giants.

The defeat marked the end of Matthew Primus' coaching tenure at the Power, but Ebert said today's club was vastly different.

"That's in the back of everyone's mind; we know that we did lose last year and that we need to make amends for that.

"We'll look at the way we played last time, but really under Ken (Hinkley) we've got a new structure, a new way of playing, so we probably won't read too much into it."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.