Adelaide will enter this weekend’s season opener against Hawthorn with virtually a clean bill of health.
Crows General Manager of High Performance Matt Hass declared on Tuesday only two Crows were unavailable for senior selection.
“Pleasingly, at this point of time heading into Round One, we’ve got 42 of the 44 available,” Hass said.
We've got a main session to get through later in the week but at this point in time we’re really pleased with where we sit.
After injury cruelled Adelaide’s 2018 campaign with several key players missing large chunks of the season, a thorough end-of-season review led to changes in the program.
A solid block of summer training, including a strong focus on match simulation training and intensity running, has left the Crows positioned to bounce back in 2019.
“(We had) a pretty thorough review out of the back of last year,” he said.
“We had a really healthy, and slightly longer pre-Christmas period so that set us up (and held us) in really good stead.
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“We’ve been able to develop from that period a nice healthy dose of match sim training and a healthy dose of high-speed running, so those things combined puts us in a really good position moving forward.”
Wingman Paul Seedsman was ruled out of the clash with the Hawks after undergoing finger surgery last week.
Seedsman could miss just the one week, pushing to return for the Crows’ trip to Sydney in Round Two.
“Seedo caught his finger in a bib and broke the tip of his finger, it required surgery unfortunately,” Hass said.
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“We expect him to miss this weekend but be a red-hot chance for Sydney.”
Defender Luke Brown continues his rehabilitation from plantaris tendon surgery and will be eyeing a return in late April/early May.
“Luke fluctuated through the pre-season, especially post-Christmas. We were dealing with an old ankle sprain, some scar tissue around that and also a plantaris issue,” Hass said.
“The ankle came along, and once we started to build his loads from ankle rehab, the Plantaris flared up a little bit so the decision was made to operate.
“The surgery went really well, and we expect him to follow a six-to-eight-week timeframe.”
Injury List as of Tuesday, March 19
Paul Seedsman (Finger) - 1 week
Luke Brown (Plantaris) - 6-8 weeks
