Will Adelaide star Rory Sloane be able to shrug the attention of Melbourne pest Bernie Vince?
Vince gave Sloane no room to move when the teams met in round eight at Adelaide Oval, restricting the Crow to just 11 possessions as the Demons produced a huge second-half comeback on their way to a 41-point victory.
Opposition teams have also successfully tagged Sloane and negated the influence of the early season Brownlow Medal favourite.
But Adelaide coach Don Pyke is backing his tough midfielder in after Melbourne counterpart Simon Goodwin confirmed that Vince would again be all over Sloane like a cheap cologne.
"I think Rory's in a better space than he was nine weeks ago, so we'll see how things pan out Saturday night," Pyke told reporters at Adelaide Airport on Friday morning.
"There's no question he will approach it differently.
"There's things he's learnt over that period of time which he is starting to put into his game and there are things he can go to if he's not having success against a one on one opponent."
Pyke stressed the point it was up to the Crows' other midfielders – Brad and Matt Crouch, Hugh Greenwood, Richard Douglas and Rory Atkins – to make their own mark on the game.
"You need an even contribution, it's not all about Rory," Pyke said. "It's about the evenness of our midfield and other guys contributing.”
There is no room in the Crows' midfield for veteran Scott Thompson, who at age 34 may have played his 308th and last AFL game last weekend.
Thompson had just 10 disposals in the Crows' 59-point thumping of the Western Bulldogs.
"Thommo would be the first admit he didn't have the game he would've liked," Pyke said.
"He's a professional footballer and he understands the nature of the game, it's performance based and he was as disappointed as anyone with how he played last week.
"I expect he'll play really well at SANFL and put his name up for selection again really soon."
