The Crows have confirmed four changes to the team to play Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
Scott Thompson, Ben Rutten, Andy Otten and Jared Petrenko will all play their first matches of the year after sitting out Adelaide’s NAB Challenge clash with Port Adelaide last weekend. Forward Jason Porplyzia, who tweaked an ankle in the win over Port, will also play against the Blues.
Named in a squad of 29 on Saturday, first-year players Charlie Cameron and Riley have both been squeezed out of the final 26 along with goalkicker Lewis Johnston. Petrenko and ruckman/forward Shaun McKernan will start as the substitutes, which can be reset after half time.
Exciting recruit Eddie Betts was left out of the squad after a dominant five-goal display in his first outing as a Crow. Defender Luke Thompson, who makes way for Rutten, is the other change to the team that beat Port.
Sanderson said the Club was managing Betts’ game time leading into the season-opener against Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Thursday, March 20.
“Eddie played the whole game last week and he hasn’t missed a beat at training all summer,” he said.
“Eddie’s an experienced player. He probably only needs two games to get himself ready for Round One, so he won’t line-up against Carlton but he’ll play in our trial game against GWS. We hope to get a few more players back for our final hit-out in Blacktown.”
Monday’s game starts at 7:10pm (AEDT) and will be broadcast on Fox Footy. Don’t have Foxtel? We’ll be tweeting live from Etihad Stadium – follow us on Twitter @Adelaide_FC.
Changes to last week’s team
IN: Andy Otten, Jared Petrenko, Ben Rutten, Scott Thompson
OUT: Eddie Betts, Charlie Cameron, Lewis Johnston, Luke Thompson
The team is:
1. James Podsiadly
4. Josh Jenkins
5. Scott Thompson
9. Rory Sloane
10. Matthew Jaensch
11. Matthew Wright
12. Daniel Talia
14. David Mackay
16. Luke Brown
17. Sam Kerridge
22. Andy Otten
23. Jared Petrenko (sub)
24. Sam Jacobs
25. Ben Rutten
26. Richard Douglas
28. Cam Ellis-Yolmen
31. Jarryd Lyons
32. Patrick Dangerfield
33. Brodie Smith
34. Sam Shaw
35. Shaun McKernan (sub)
36. Brodie Martin
38. Mitch Grigg
40. Jason Porplyzia
41. Kyle Hartigan
44. Matt Crouch
Emergencies: Charlie Cameron, Lewis Johnston, Riley Knight
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