Nathan van Berlo and Rory Atkins have been recalled for Friday night’s sold out clash with Richmond.
The pair returns at the expense of injured midfielder Richard Douglas and Matt Wright, who has been omitted. Van Berlo, who last played AFL in Round 15, is back following a best-on-ground performance in Adelaide’s SANFL win over Norwood last weekend.
Atkins, who made his debut against Port Adelaide last month, has played in two of the Club’s past three AFL games, starting as the substitute on both occasions. The 21-year-old wingman adds run to the team in the absence of the hard-working Douglas, who will miss after having his appendix removed on Monday night. The emergencies are Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Sam Shaw and James Podsiadly.
A late withdrawal from Adelaide’s clash with Sydney last weekend, Brodie Martin was unavailable for selection against Richmond as he continues to recover from illness. Matt Crouch, who was called up to replace Martin, retains his place in the side.
Despite the injuries to Douglas and Martin, Interim Senior Coach Scott Camporeale praised the selection pressure at West Lakes, particularly, in the midfield roles.
“We probably haven’t seen that (selection pressure) certainly since I’ve been here in the last five years,” Camporeale said.
“We’ll go in with a balanced team that we think can win against Richmond tomorrow night.
“There are a lot of guys who have played only a handful of (AFL) games and that’s great. It’s exciting for this footy club to see those guys on Friday night against a top-eight, potentially, top-four team on the big stage.
“There’s no better learning place than that.”
Camporeale said defensive pressure would be a focus for the Crows, who recorded a season-low tackle count against the Swans on Saturday.
“We didn’t put enough pressure on Sydney all over the ground. Tackling is a small part of it,” he said.
“Pressure and tackling and all those things are about intent. We came up against a Sydney team, who are a top-four side, and they showed us the level we need to get to.”
The clash with the Tigers will be Adelaide’s one and only Friday night fixture of the home and away season. See all the Stats that Matter ahead of the big game.
It will be a crucial game for both teams, who are trying to secure positions in the final eight.
“We’ve just got to keep winning,” Camporeale said.
“You just don’t know what’s going to happen and the way other teams (results) are going to fall. We’ve just got to make sure that we keep winning and earn the right to be there.
“We can’t rely on other teams losing for us to get in.”
Public tickets to the game have sold out. Fans can still gain entry to the match by becoming a 3 Game Member.Despite the ‘sold-out’ status, existing Crows GA and 3 Game members can attend simply by swiping their cards at the gate. Members who can’t attend the match are encouraged to pass their ticket(s) on to a friend or family member.
Gates open at 5:00pm on Friday. Full match day information is available here.
The AFL will celebrate Multicultural Round this weekend. A citizenship ceremony will take place prior to the match between the Crows and Tigers, and also the GWS Giants and Essendon clash. The Sherrin official AFL match ball will be translated into Arabic, Hindi or Mandarin and will feature at all nine matches. The AFL field umpire shirts will feature the word umpire translated into one of the seven most spoken languages in Australia, other than English, as part of the celebrations.
Wright will return to Adelaide’s SANFL team, which takes on South Adelaide at Noarlunga at 2:10pm on Saturday. The match replaces the fixture originally scheduled for Round 12, which was postponed in the wake of the tragic passing of Crows Senior Coach Phil Walsh. Ticketed Crows member receive free entry to all of the Club’s minor-round SANFL games.
The team is:
IN: Rory Atkins, Nathan van Berlo
OUT: Richard Douglas (appendix), Matt Wright (omitted)
