All Collingwood players will attend the funeral service on Thursday for former teammate John McCarthy, a day before taking on Sydney in an AFL preliminary final.

The funeral for McCarthy will be held in his Victorian home town of Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula.

Authorities believe McCarthy, 22, died after falling from a roof at a Las Vegas casino while on holiday with 10 Port Adelaide teammates. McCarthy joined Port this season after four years at Collingwood.

Hundreds of AFL identities are expected to attend the funeral.

After the funeral, the Collingwood players will head to Tullamarine to board a flight to Sydney, where the preliminary final against the Swans will take place at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.

Port Adelaide players and officials were expected to attend the Sorrento service, to be screened at a public memorial service at Port's Alberton headquarters in Adelaide.