ADELAIDE midfielder Simon Goodwin admits he does not know if his close friend, teammate and business partner Mark Ricciuto will be an AFL player in 2008, after the Crows' captain suffered another setback in an injury-riddled season.
Ricciuto, 32, was on Wednesday afternoon consigned to an ankle-protecting ‘moon boot’ for at least one week and probably two, following an MRI scan that showed ligament damage to be worse than previously thought.
He has been ruled out for the next two weeks and probably more, meaning he will play only a limited on-field role, if any, in Adelaide's effort to squeak into the finals.
Goodwin, who is partner with Ricciuto in numerous business ventures, including hotels and pubs, said the pair had yet to seriously discuss the latest development, which will only strengthen speculation that 2007 will be the final season of Ricciuto's career.
"I don't know, all I know is he's focused on his ankle at the moment, he's disappointed it's going to be another two weeks, and that's all I know ... he wants to play some footy this year and we'll have to wait and see," Goodwin said.
"You don't want injuries at any stage but when you get older you certainly don't want them, and Mark's had a lot of injuries over the last couple of seasons - but I know he wants to play more footy.
"Mark's a realist, he'll sit down and he'll make the best decision for himself and he's just focusing on his ankle and it's not for me or anyone to tell him, I'm sure we'll have a cup of coffee at some stage but he knows what he's got ahead of him."
Ahead of Adelaide is a match-up with local rival Port Adelaide, a game the Crows must win to have any serious chance of challenging for the top eight.
To do so they need to find a way to contain the Power's run, limit the influence of master utility Chad Cornes, and most importantly correct a recent inability to play with skill and fight for sustained periods.
Over the course of three consecutive losses the Crows have dropped away at crucial times, either to allow their opponent a lead or to fail in clawing back a deficit.
"Our turnovers are really hurting us, the games we've played in the last three weeks we've clawed our way back into games and then we've given up easy goals," Goodwin said.
"That's not a part of the Adelaide footy club and we want to make sure we don't do that, we want to when we get back into games push on and be successful and that's something we'll be looking at this week.
"Port are in terrific form, won their last two games very well, but we've won three of the last four showdowns and we're confident in our ability to play against Port, we're confident in our structures, and confident in front of our home crowd."
The club has said full-back Ben Rutten is still a "50/50" chance to play against the Power, while Jason Torney (ribs) and Brent Reilly (corked buttock) are expected to be fit.
