Peter Burgoyne has picked the wrong time to attend training in an 'unfit state' with Port Adelaide insisting no player is safe from delisting at the end of the year.
Burgoyne, who will miss this Sunday's clash against Fremantle thanks to a club-imposed suspension, joins fellow inaugural squad members Brendon Lade and Michael Wilson in the firing line.
The rebounding defender may have averaged 23 possessions a game this season but he's lacked the consistency of recent years. And a hamstring strain along with his training mishap haven't helped Burgoyne who is out of contract at the end of the year.
Power assistant coach Jason Cripps was reluctant to comment directly about the premiership player's plight.
"In terms of our list management Peter is like every other player on the list at the moment," Cripps said.
"We'll assess that at the end of the year, we are looking at a lot of players at the moment."
"You obviously take in a lot of factors both on and off the field, but we certainly don't look at any particular incident in isolation. We look at the whole package, what a player has to offer to the playing group."
Cripps said Burgoyne had been training well and would be up for selection for Port's next game. He was also philosophic about the 30-year-old's setback.
"Players that are on the list are 18 years of age to 33 to 34 …and are actually going to make mistakes; they are human beings and they are not always going to get it right."
Burgoyne isn't the only player feeling uneasy down at Alberton. Several of his team-mates, including ball carrier Nathan Lonie, are still being judged on whether they make the cut for 2009.
Cripps said Lonie was delivering the goods at this stage by delivering handy possession counts, kicking several goals and pumping the ball deep into the forward 50 metres.
But he added the former Hawk, like the other players on audition, needed to maintain their intensity.
"They get an opportunity to make a statement as to whether they want to take the next step in their footy and we will be giving them ample opportunity. That doesn't mean they are going to play between now and the rest of the year just because they've come in now," Cripps said.
"They need to perform, if they don't perform they are out, if they perform they stay in."