Mark Ricciuto has virtually parted company with his once-feared hip-and-shoulder bump.

Adelaide's muscular, 302-game captain concedes he has altered, and will continually to alter, his style of play to try to avoid the one-match suspensions that ruled him out of last year's first qualifying final against St Kilda and last Sunday's match against Fremantle, both of which the Crows lost.

"You can't go around hip-and-shouldering guys," Ricciuto said. "It is a dangerous thing to do. If you slightly misjudge it and you cop them high, you are going to get suspended. You have to weigh up the value of a bump. Certainly there is not much value having me out of the side, so I'll be thinking twice about doing anything like that.

"I don't think it will be hard at all. I've changed it dramatically over the last 10 years. I hardly bump anyone any more. I will be doing it less now with what has happened in the last couple of years.

"It's not a part of the game any more. They're trying to clean it up and I'm happy with that, but I just have to keep modifying my style of football, which I've been able to do in other areas. It won't be a problem."

Ricciuto, 31, said he felt 'really good' after resting for most of this week.

"I was getting a bit tired, as you do at this time of the year, and the opportunity to have a week off and freshen up has been perfect for me," he said.

And, while he was expected to start as a forward alongside or close to Scott Welsh, he said he would 'probably' have a run in the midfield against the Bulldogs.

"It's important to have flexibility through the midfield, probably more important through the finals, so I wouldn't be surprised if I have a bit of a run around there tomorrow," he said. "I am going into the midfield for bursts. I certainly wouldn't think I could play the whole game there.

"We are really excited about having 'Welshy' back in the side, and we're looking forward to him playing some good footy. It was his first hit-out last week on top of a few games he has played for West Adelaide.

"If he can stay fit, we expect him to play some really good footy and kick a few goals for us. He adds a lot of defensive pressure to our forward line and that's something that has dropped away the last couple of weeks. It has many benefits for having a Scott Welsh in our forward line."

Ricciuto described as 'very exciting' ruckman Ben Hudson's recovery from knee surgery and his being named as an emergency this week after encouraging form with North Adelaide in the SANFL.

"He's extremely enthusiastic," Ricciuto said. "He's a big fella and very bubbly, and he's been missed since he's been out. He adds a lot of strength to our side.

"His clearance work is the best I have seen from a ruckman throughout my career, so he brings some hardness and real toughness in that area. If he can work his way back into the side it will be a good boost for us.

"Having said that, 'Clarkey' is in really good form and Rhett Biglands has done the job for us all year, so there is a bit of pressure on all three guys to perform at the moment, which is a real bonus for us to have three or four really good ruckmen."

But Ricciuto doubted whether there was room for three ruckmen in the Crows' 22.

"I wouldn't think so, but it's been done before," he said. "It certainly limits your flexibility if you have three ruckmen in modern football, with the amount of rotations you have to do."

Regretting the loss of Brett Burton (hamstring) and the 'X-factor' he brings to Adelaide's team, Ricciuto said: "The opposition doesn't know what he's doing and we don't know what he's doing half the time. He's definitely got that air of invincibility about him as well when he is in good form.

"He is hard to replace in that respect, but, having said that, we have a lot of guys who can come in and do a similar type of job. While we would like to have Brett out there fully fit, and we may be able to do that in a few weeks, if we haven't got him I'm sure we have other guys who can come in and give us that sort of role."

Burton, in consultation with Adelaide's medical staff, has decided against having surgery on his torn hamstring in the hope he will still be able to play a role in Adelaide's finals campaign next month.