Collingwood coach Craig McRae has dared Port Adelaide to tag wunderkind Nick Daicos and shut him out of their bumper AFL clash.
Last year's Rising Star winner, 20-year-old Daicos picked up from where he left off in round one, racking up 35 disposals off half-back in the Magpies' victory over Geelong.
Power tagger Willem Drew shapes as a match-up for Daicos if coach Ken Hinkley opts for a run-with player at the MCG on Saturday - a call McRae said he would make.
"Well if I'm the opposition, I'd tag Nick," McRae told reporters.
"He's a weapon and you've got to take something away from the opposition. I'd be looking to tag him."
Collingwood's midfield will go head-to-head with Port's boom recruit Jason Horne-Francis, who was North Melbourne's No.1 pick in Daicos' draft and starred first-up against Brisbane alongside Zak Butters and Connor Rozee.
"I love their youth in their team. When (Hinkley) threw them all in the midfield in the second half, they'd be excited for that," McRae said.
"We'd like to back in our midfield and think, 'Let's get to work'. It's going to be a pivotal part of the game."
Sidelined Jeremy Howe, who saw a specialist on Wednesday after surgery on his broken arm, is yet to return to the club.
"He wanted to come in today and the doctors kept him away. My understanding is he'll be in early next week," McRae said.
"He's an incredible leader around the place and we'll miss him on and off the field."
Former Power and Adelaide big man Billy Frampton will debut as Howe's replacement and looks poised to take on Charlie Dixon.
"He's got that ability to take a big target away, or a big key forward for the opposition, and then allow others to get to work," McRae said.
"I'm excited to see what he can do."
McRae played down expectations on recruits Tom Mitchell - who had 10 clearances against Geelong - and Bobby Hill, who booted a career-high three goals.
"With Tom, we're really clear we don't need him to get to 30 possessions which he's averaged for his whole career - he just won't get that with us. We're a low-possession team," McRae said.
"But we got him here for a reason. He's a first-possession clearance player and he's elite at that. On the weekend, everyone got to see what that was.
"Three goals (for Hill) is a huge output for a small forward. But we just want his pressure and his role play and his ability to play in our system."
Midfield bull Taylor Adams (foot) has been cleared to play.
