Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says a win over North Melbourne may not deliver the answers he wants about his beleaguered AFL club.

Port have undergone a week of soul-searching following their capitulation to Gold Coast last week which Primus said made them the AFL's laughing stock.

The Power coach said victory against the Kangaroos on Saturday afternoon could actually cover up inherent problems.

"A win would be great for the club, but if we don't go about it in the right manner ... it hasn't actually covered what we need to fix," Primus said on Friday.

"We are going to have to worry about the way we compete for four quarters and the way we're able to stand up under some heat."

Port was dealt a match eve blow when key onballer Travis Boak was ruled out of the Etihad Stadium fixture with concussion.

And doubt remains over influential ruckman Dean Brogan, who trained for the first time on Friday after missing the shock defeat to Gold Coast with an achilles injury.

Brogan will be assessed on Saturday morning, but regardless of his inclusion Primus was clear on what he wants from his charges against the winless Kangaroos.

"We're looking for some resilience and persistence from the group," he said.

"We are just looking for a competitive effort ... we're looking for 22 (players) who want to compete and be resilient and want to hold up under a fair bit of pressure, which it's going to be for four quarters.

" ... Which ones have the ability to stand up and play a consistent competitive game of footy week in, week out?"

Primus has recalled dual All Australian Kane Cornes after being dropped two weeks ago in a quest to find on-field leadership lacking in the Gold Coast loss.

"We're looking for some leadership, we didn't have enough stand up last weekend," he said.

Discarded were Steven Salopek, Jason Davenport and Jacob Surjan, who earned a reprieve due to Boak's injury.

The Kangaroos dropped Robbie Tarrant, Cruize Garlett and Cameron Richardson after last week's loss to Richmond, promoting Ben Speight, Jamie MacMillan and debutant Kieran Harper.

"They're really competitive, they beat their opposition in clearances, inside 50s, contested football, broken down in some skill level," Primus said of North.

" ... Their form doesn't look like zip and four like they are at the moment, so we know what to expect from them, what is coming."

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