THE DOOR has opened for Port Adelaide's John Butcher to play in defence against Hawthorn on Friday night, with coach Ken Hinkley suggesting the key forward could be used to cover the absence of Jackson Trengove. 

Trengove underwent a shoulder reconstruction on Wednesday afternoon and has been ruled out for the rest of the year.

Butcher drew praise from his coach last week for a solid contribution against Greater Western Sydney as a late inclusion; he managed 10 possessions and an important final-term goal.

Hinkley believes too much has been made of Butcher's inaccuracy in front of goal, and said that he'd hit form as a backman in the SANFL over the past month.

The 24-year-old was aligned with the club's defence at training on Thursday morning.

With Jay Schulz likely to be the only inclusion having overcome a sore back, Butcher appears set to play on Jarryd Roughead or Jack Gunston.

"Wait and see, but it doesn't look like a straight swap (Trengove for another defender) in our eyes," Hinkley said. 

"I want to give the boys an opportunity, who played last week, to play again this week because of the way they went about it.

"If Schulz comes up, that will probably be the only change." 

Intrigue surrounds Butcher's future on Port's list.

He was drafted with pick No.8 in 2009 and enjoyed a much-publicised rise at the end of the 2011 season when be booted 11 goals in his first three games.

But while Hinkley is understandably happy with Butcher's defensive intensity, his attack on the ball and his marking ability – his kicking has held him back.

With a plethora of young developing key forwards on its books, it's difficult to see Port keeping Butcher as a senior-listed forward.

Strong performances in Port's remaining three games (assuming an unlikely finals run) though could prolong his career, and that campaign will continue on Friday night.

Hinkley said the loss of Trengove would test the Power's back six, but he believed team defence would be enough to stop the high-scoring Hawks.

"We've always said it's about the collective, it's not about the individual – certainly it tests you a little bit but that's ok," he said.

"It's about the whole team and how well we're defending their team - their whole ball movement that we know Hawthorn are very good at.

"We stepped up [last week] and were able to play four strong quarters of football over a really intense game, which is what we needed to do."