Let's celebrate Roo's 300th
Neil Craig has praised Adelaide's supporters while asking them to fill AAMI Stadium for next Friday night's clash with the Kangaroos - Mark Ricciuto's 300th AFL
Craig said it was 'amazing' what the crowd's vocal support did for the Crows, and he referred to the strong finish against Hawthorn on Saturday.
"An extension of that is if we can get a full house next Friday night, for us as a club and a team - and it's Friday-night footy on a big stage - the bonus, of course, is that Mark Ricciuto hopefully plays 300 games," he said.
"He's been a fantastic player for our club. This club's been very lucky to have quality players - Hart, Ricciuto, Goodwin, McLeod, Edwards … they go on - so it's a great opportunity for our supporters to get a full house, support the team and come to recognise Mark's achievement because it is a fantastic achievement."
Ricciuto was restricted for opportunities at full-forward in the first half against the Hawks but had more influence on the game when moved into the midfield.
Asked where he would like to see the captain play in this season's finals, Craig said: "I think the good thing about Mark is that when he went into the midfield today he actually found the ball with ease, so that gives us enormous flexibility. I know Mark enjoys playing up forward. He's good for us, he knows the system and he also can obviously play in the midfield, so that's only a bonus for us.
"We've just got to be careful with Mark, even though he's probably feeling the best he's ever felt all year, which hopefully will now flow over to him doing more training on the training track. That's a timing issue.
"I don't want to be throwing people into the midfield - the way the midfield is played these days - just willy-nilly. It's timing, it's a matter of the balance of the game, the opponents who are in there, how Mark's travelling. We'll see more and more of him in the midfield."