RYAN Burton's outstanding form in his first season at Port Adelaide gave coach Ken Hinkley no hesitation in bringing him back immediately after a month off with a hamstring injury.
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The 22-year-old defender – who arrived at the Power from Hawthorn as part of the Chad Wingard deal at the end of last season – is a big inclusion for Saturday night's encounter with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
Burton hasn't played since the round 17 loss to Brisbane after a second soft tissue injury this season.
Ryan Burton went down in the third term of Port's loss to Brisbane on July 14. Picture: AFL Photos
"He was in very good form before he went out and he's very important to our team," Hinkley said on Friday.
"We're getting close to the end of the season, and we need to get some AFL football into him as quick as we possibly can.
"We weighed up all the options and went through all the challenges with that, but we think Ryan adds too much to our team not to bring him back in."
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Hinkley said Burton's situation was different to co-captain Ollie Wines, who was initially going to come back through the SANFL last week after missing a significant amount of time this season with shoulder, leg and ankle injuries.
Ryan adds too much to our team not to bring him back in - Ken Hinkley
"If we can break down their timelines and their seasons, Ollie's has been far more disruptive," Hinkley said.
"There's no grey in our mind as coaches in any similarities in their seasons.
"Ryan's been in ripping nick and he's probably in our best five or six players before he went out in our club best and fairest."
Burton's return is offset by the loss of first-year sensation Xavier Duursma, who will miss with a bruised heel.
"All things being equal, he should be available next week," Hinkley said.
"Because we're playing at Marvel, which is a faster, harder track, if we put him out there this week, we inflame it to a point where it might be the end of the season.
"We don't want that to be the case."
In the only other change, Zak Butters (bruised sternum) returns at the expense of Cam Sutcliffe.
The Power (10-10) are in eighth spot and will make the finals if they win their last two games.
The Kangaroos are coming of a big loss against Geelong when they kicked just one goal for the game, but Hinkley wasn't reading much into that result.
"What we can take from North Melbourne since Rhyce Shaw has taken over is they've been a really good side and a really damaging side," Hinkley said.
"They're really competitive and the contested side of the game, they're really good.
"I'll remember the week before against Hawthorn more than the Geelong one."
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