Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says star veteran Robbie Gray has more to give at an AFL level despite being rested for their clash with Essendon.

Port Adelaide veteran Robbie Gray won't feature against Essendon on Sunday, but coach Ken Hinkley denies the 34-year-old is being freshened up for a farewell Showdown before heading into retirement.

Gray departed the side that suffered a disappointing 38-point loss to Richmond at Adelaide Oval, with the 270-gamer listed as "managed".

The star forward has made 15 senior appearances this season, the 16th campaign of a decorated career, but has managed just 12 goals while dealing with persistent knee issues.

The 12th-placed Power (8-12) will finish a disappointing season with a home clash against their cross-town rivals at Adelaide Oval.

It would appear the perfect send-off for the five-time Showdown Medal winner, but Hinkley said any decision on Gray's playing future will be left entirely up to him.

"Robbie Gray has the absolute right to make his own decision because he's been the greatest player at our football club in the AFL era, in my simple view," Hinkley said.

"He'll make those decisions when they best suit him.

"I haven't even had a conversation about those things.

"Robbie is that type of person that he would walk into my office and say 'hey, listen mate ... this is what's going on, this is how I feel, this is where it's at'.

"He deserves that right."

Port have bolstered their forward line for Sunday's clash with Essendon at Marvel Stadium with Todd Marshall returning from COVID-19 protocols and Mitch Georgiades earning a recall after one match back in the SANFL.

Defender Trent McKenzie and mid-season draftee Brynn Teakle were dropped, with the ruckman's omission after playing his second AFL game marking a return to Port's makeshift ruck tandem of Jeremy Finlayson and Charlie Dixon.

"It's a system that has worked reasonably well for us," Hinkley said.

"We were keen to give Brynn another opportunity ... but he's got a lot of his craft to work on.

"It was worthwhile for him to have another look.

"Clearly, Jeremy, Charlie and Sam Powell-Pepper have been able to do it pretty successfully and we'll continue to do that for the next couple of weeks.

"Ideally, we would have a ruckman in the team but we haven't got the right one available this week."

Hinkley confirmed injury-plagued forward Orazio Fantasia was unable to be considered for selection against his old side, with a persistent knee injury ending his season.

The 14th-ranked Bombers (7-13) made three changes to the side that suffered a 27-point defeat at the hands of GWS, with Dylan Shiel, Jye Caldwell and Nick Bryan the inclusions.

Harrison Jones and Ben Hobbs were omitted, with James Stewart (foot) and Will Snelling (hamstring) out injured.

Despite the Bombers being out of finals contention, coach Ben Rutten said it is important they bounce back.

"We don't want to be one of those clubs that has 'just one of those days' - we want to be better than that," Rutten said.

"We want to be really consistent in the way we turn up and the brand of footy we play.

"That was where the disappointment was for us last week.

"We want to bounce out of that really quickly as a football club."