Ballantyne, who leads Freo’s goal kicking with 49 majors this season, is out with a broken jaw.
Pavlich said it would be an obvious blow to Freo to lose one of the AFL’s best small forwards.
“Realistically, the next player steps in and plays Hayden’s role, but we know he’s had a fantastic year, he’s kicked near on 50 goals and had a great impact defensively for us as well,” he said.
But the Freo captain said the club had proven over recent seasons it could cover for the loss of key personnel.
“If it’s Hayden Crozier, if it’s Matt de Boer or if it’s someone else, whoever steps into that role has got big shoes to fill, not literally speaking, but figuratively speaking at least,” Pavlich said.
“That’s been the mantra all year, whoever steps out of the team, someone fills the void and plays their role.”
Pavlich watched Port’s 57-point thrashing of Richmond in the Elimination Final.
He said the Power displayed a dominant running game and added their skills were fantastic, but it was their team defence that really impressed him.
“It’s been a strength that Ken Hinkley has brought to the team, that ability to really defend strongly, and that’s them as a team, not necessarily just their back six,” Pavlich said.
“We scored heavily against them a couple of weeks ago and I’m sure they’ll look at that, as we will to ensure that hopefully we can get some ascendancy in that area again.”
Pavlich said he’d played on both Port key defenders Alipate Carlisle and Jackson Trengove in the past and expected another tough contest against one of them on Saturday.
“They’ve really developed their own games and become fantastic players,” he said.
“I’m going to have to play extremely well and work hard to create opportunities for myself and the other forwards.”
As for his final message to the team in the huddle just before bounce down on Saturday night, Pavlich said he hadn’t yet thought about what he was going to say.
“Sometimes it comes to me quite late, other times it’s something I think of throughout the week,” he said.
“Basically to stay in the moment and to let it all go and play with freedom.”
