ADELAIDE expects to know by Sunday the severity of shoulder and knee injuries to forwards Tom Lynch and Andy Otten, who will both have scans on Saturday.
Richard Douglas remained in Westmead Hospital on Friday night after a hit to the groin in Friday's practice match against Greater Western Sydney, but will return to Adelaide by Sunday, having been cleared of any serious injury. Sam Shaw experienced hamstring tightness in the game but the club is confident he'll recover quickly.
Lynch, who dislocated his shoulder, is the only one of the four thought unlikely to be available for the club's round-one match against Geelong on March 20. It was Lynch's first competitive game back after foot surgery late last season.
Veteran midfielder Scott Thompson said that while the loss of Lynch would prove a blow, the club had several options who could step in if needed.
Lewis Johnston appears a likely candidate after he kicked three goals in the opening term of Adelaide's SANFL trial against Sturt at AAMI Stadium on Saturday morning.
"I don't know how bad some of the injuries are at this point. We'll wait until those boys get assessed ... fingers crossed at least three of them get up by round one," Thompson said.
"We've got 12 or 13 days now until the start of the season. At this stage, in my eyes, I think maybe Tom Lynch will be the unlucky one with a shoulder.
"We've got some real talent out [playing] today so I hope those boys do well, a lot of them playing today have had a great pre-season.
"There may be a window open now with the injuries we've got ... there's a number of guys that could put their hand up and fill a role – it may restructure the forward line if Lynchy doesn't get up but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out."
Thompson was among the Crows' best against the Giants and, after a slow start to his pre-season due to hip surgery, he said he felt ready to take on Geelong.
"The first half of the summer I spent most of my time indoors doing a fair bit of cross-training but the second half I've got a fair few miles into the legs and the body's feeling good at this stage," he said.
"Hopefully it continues that way and I can hit the ground running come round one."
Key Crows Brad Crouch and Brent Reilly as well as Jared Petrenko and Sam Kerridge also played in the side's SANFL trial on Saturday morning.
Importantly for Adelaide's backline, Reilly moved well in the first half and showed no lingering discomfort from his shoulder reconstruction.
Crouch also looked in good touch, as did exciting rookie Charlie Cameron who took several strong marks and kicked two goals.