The Crows will go into Saturday night’s sold out clash with Richmond at Adelaide Oval as named.
Young midfielder Mitch Grigg will start as Adelaide’s substitute.
Richmond is also unchanged, with draftee Ben Lennon to start as the sub.
On Thursday night, James Podsiadly and Sam Shaw were recalled to the Crows team. Podsiadly returns after missing Adelaide’s big win over the Brisbane Lions with soreness. The strong-marking forward replaces Tom Lynch, who has been diagnosed with a small neck fracture following a sickening head-on collision at the Gabba on Sunday.
Shaw will play just his sixth AFL game of the season and first since Round Seven. The athletic tall replaces fellow defender Andy Otten, who will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair a ruptured ACL in his right knee. Young midfielders Sam Kerridge, Matt Crouch and Rory Atkins are the emergencies.
Read the AFL.com.au preview of Saturday night’s clash
Coach Brenton Sanderson was confident Podsiadly and Shaw could cover the unfortunate losses of Lynch and Otten.
“Lynchy is still a bit stiff and sore from that nasty clash on Sunday. He wasn’t able to do our main session today (Thursday), so we couldn’t select him,” Sanderson said.
“It’s a shame for Lynchy because he’s missed so much footy through injury, but we won’t take any risks with him. ‘Pods’ was banged up last week, but he’s responded well to the week off and will slot straight back into the forward line.
“Sam Shaw gets his chance this week. It’s shattering for Andy to have another serious knee injury, but he’s a resilient character and we know he’ll be back as good as ever. Sam’s also had his share of setbacks. He’s been in excellent form in the SANFL the last two weeks and is a like-for-like for Andy, as that third tall defender.”
Two-time Club Champion Scott Thompson will spend another week on the sidelines because of a back-related hamstring complaint.
“Thommo’s done a heap of training this week and is moving pretty well,” Sanderson said.
“We just want to give him another week of solid work so that we’re 100 per cent certain he can get through the full four quarters when we do pick him.”
Public tickets to Saturday night’s blockbuster at Adelaide Oval are sold out. The Club encourages any members not planning to use their tickets to pass them on to family or friends. The record home-and-away crowd for a Crows v Tigers game is set to be smashed this week.
The Crows will hold an open training session at Adelaide Oval from about 10:00am on Friday (August 15). The session will run for up to one hour.
The team is
IN: James Podsiadly, Sam Shaw
OUT: Tom Lynch (neck), Andy Otten (knee)
