Charman and Leuenberger have combined strongly in the first three rounds of the season, but their biggest test undoubtedly comes against one of the best established duos in the league.
Charman had nothing but praise for his opponents at training last night, saying they were “sensational ruckmen”, but believed the Lions had the firepower to match.
“I think ‘Leuey’ is improving every game. He had a good game on the weekend (against Sydney), his ruck work was sensational so there's no reason why he can't be better again this week,’’ Charman said.
“I think they've proved they're the best ruck combinations in the league, but I think in the near future both Matthew and I can be the premier ruckmen and be a combination that's a real threat each week to (West Coast’s Dean) Cox and (Mark) Seaby, and Brogan and Lade.”
Charman also relishes a chance to register on the score sheet.
“It's always nice to go forward and kick a couple of goals,” he said.
“We've got some big targets down there with (Daniel) Bradshaw, (Jonathan) Brown and you've also got (Lachlan) Henderson who's come into the mix now and he's going to be a more permanent forward as the years get on.
“You want as much game time for those guys as you can but it's certainly damaging as a ruckman if you can go forward and get those one or two goals.”
Charman believes Saturday night’s match will be won in the midfield and is confident the Lions’ heavier rotations will do the job.
He said that, while Simon Black, Nigel Lappin and Luke Power would be marked closely, the Lions were developing a bigger core of midfield players to turn to.
“They (Port Adelaide) have a sensational midfield which is hard to beat at the best of times, but with our midfield we've got 15 good guys going while they're probably limited to the six or seven . . . hopefully we can play well and get some more guys through that area than what they do,” he said.
“You wouldn't want to go through four rounds one and three so we'll be definitely fighting.
“We've always had great clashes with Port. During those premiership years Port were always up there in one and two (on the ladder) with us with us and there was some great clashes, some one-point clashes. It always comes down to the wire with Port”.
