THE BATTLE for dominance in Adelaide's forward line has begun and assistant coach Mark Bickley says the fight will reveal the true colours of those involved.
The Crows instantly added significant depth to their forward line by recruiting veterans Eddie Betts and James Podsiadly for 2014 and, considering the eventual return of Taylor Walker, spots in attack will be tight.
Bickley said the competition and resulting pressure would allow players such as Tom Lynch and Lewis Johnston to stand up and cement their selection.
Lynch led the Crows' goal kicking last season with 33, but Johnston was the club's best on average – booting 11 from his five games at just over two a match.
"If there was any silver lining with the amount of injuries that we had [last year] we did get a real chance to expose some players," Bickley said on Monday.
"Tom Lynch played a lot of footy which he hadn't done previously; Lewis Johnston, Josh Jenkins, Shaun McKernan.
"It's now up to them to really consolidate their spots because there's obviously increased competition with Eddie Betts and James Podsiadly coming into the fold and Taylor (Walker) hopefully due back in the first half of the year.
"That'll put a lot of pressure on everyone and with pressure generally comes people who stand up and perform."
Bickley said Walker had progressed nicely from his 2013 knee reconstruction and was almost running at full speed.
On Saturday morning Walker said he would prefer to make a return to the AFL via the SANFL, in order to acclimatise to the pace and requirements of senior football.
The next phase of the star forward's rehabilitation will be to ensure his knee can cope with the instinctual and unexpected movements of a game situation.
"I think he's about 85-90 per cent speed with his running, but that's all straight line - he hasn't done any agility work yet, that's the next step for him," Bickley said.
"After that we get into the competitive work and the twisting and the turning and the involuntary-type muscle movements.
"Everything's gone really well so far, he's in great spirits and he's really confident that the work he's done is going to hold him in great stead."
On-leave assistant Dean Bailey was present for the club's first training session of 2014, after commencing chemotherapy treatment just before Christmas.
Bickley praised the inspiring spirit shown by the much-loved coach and said his presence was "testament to the bloke he is".
Crows skipper Nathan van Berlo again proved too fit for his teammates, taking out his group's time trial ahead of first-year midfielder Riley Knight and Brodie Smith.
Versatile defender Ricky Henderson was also impressive.
Twitter: @AFL_Harry http://afl.to/harrythring
