PORT Adelaide is sweating on the fitness of enigmatic forward Daniel Motlop ahead of the club’s round-one clash against North Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

Motlop, 28, made a slow start to pre-season training after having ankle and shoulder surgery in September and missed the Power’s NAB Cup semi-final clash with the Western Bulldogs with a glute complaint.

The mercurial goalkicker was granted permission to play in the SANFL over the weekend because of his limited preparation, but managed just a half before coming from the ground with hamstring tightness.

He’ll be given until late in the week to prove he’s fit to take on his former club.

If Motlop fails to come up it will be a very young Port Adelaide side that takes the field against the Roos.

Port Adelaide lost over 700 games of experience through the departures of Shaun Burgoyne (Hawthorn), Peter Burgoyne, Brendon Lade and Toby Thurstans (all retired) last year and will rely on its next generation of stars to propel the club back into finals contention this season.

One player who will shoulder a heavy load in 2010 is young midfielder Travis Boak.

Boak, 21, finished sixth in the Power’s best-and-fairest last year and is being touted as the next big thing at Alberton.

The former No.5 draft pick denied he was feeling extra pressure, despite the pre-season hype.

“I’m just approaching it as another year. I want to try and take another step up and I want to play a lot more in the centre square and change my role a bit from the wing to the middle,” Boak said.

“It’s going to be a big loss having Shaun gone now and I think the time is right for all of our young boys to stand up, not just me.

“It’ll be fantastic if I can take that next step and become an elite midfielder, but that’s a long way away. I’ve just got to keep trying to improve aspects of my game. I’ve still got plenty to learn and plenty to improve on.”

Boak is likely to attract more attention from opposition taggers this year in the absence of the youngest Burgoyne brother.

The classy ball winner was shadowed by Adelaide’s Brent Reilly in round one of the NAB Cup, but said he hadn’t spent much time learning how to deal with a tag over the summer.

“I don’t know what other clubs are thinking about me at the moment,” he said.

“All I can do is go out each week and try and improve. If I happen to get a little bit more attention, so be it. I’ll just have to work a little bit harder.”

North Melbourne crashed Port Adelaide’s farewell party for retiring champions Lade and Peter Burgoyne when the two sides met in round 22 last season.

The Power faces games against top-four fancies Geelong, St Kilda, Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions in the next five weeks and Boak - who will play his 50th AFL game this week - said it was important his side carried its impressive pre-season form into the start of the home and away season.

“Most of the pre-season games leading up are for round one and all your set-ups and preparation are all really for round one. We’re just looking forward to getting out there, trying to get a win on the board and trying to get some fans there,” he said.

“It would be fantastic to get a few wins under the belt early, but it’s a long season and anything can happen.”

Travis Boak is a $396,900 midfielder in this year’s Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.