Ricciuto ready to return
Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto has declared himself a certain starter for Sunday's clash with the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome after having missed the past two mat
"I'll be playing this week," Ricciuto said after training at AAMI Stadium on Wednesday. "I trained flat-out today and didn't feel it at all, so I'm feeling pretty good.
"I had tendonitis in the right hamstring, which slowed me down until two weeks ago. That was from a pelvic problem and that was fixed. Then I had a slight tear in the left hamstring, which kept me out for the last two weeks.
"I didn't even feel it happen, it was that minor. It was a fatigue injury that I got over in Fremantle. So it was two different injuries and I think I'm definitely on top of it. It has been a little frustrating … I'm looking forward to having an injury-free run.
"I've had injuries before and I've been through some harsh runs - missing the (1997) grand final with injury - so this is nothing like that. I'm very confident it will be only a minor hiccup in the season. This should be the end of it but you can never be too sure what's going to happen.
"I'll be doing full training as long as the body tells me it can do it. It's feeling very good - the best it has since Christmas."
Asked about spending some time in the midfield after having started the season successfully at full-forward, Ricciuto said: "I probably don't need to be there (in the midfield) too much at the moment. Some of the younger players are doing a very good job and it's really given them an opportunity to play some good footy.
"I'll be balancing between the forward line and the midfield, and I guess gradually spending a bit more time in the midfield if need be.
"I'm feeling very fit - I've done a bit of a test on the treadmill and haven't drop off much at all. So it's not a case of whether I can go back into the midfield, it's where I'm needed at the moment - and that's in the forward line.
"I really enjoy playing up forward and I look forward to spending a fair bit of time there the next few years."
Ricciuto, 31 last Monday, will play his 291st AFL match on Sunday.
Asked whether Telstra Dome's firm, fast surface was the right place to be returning from a hamstring problem, he said: "It is a fast track but the roof could be open on Sunday so it could be windy and maybe wet as well.
"It's a good stadium. I think everyone enjoys playing there. It cops a bit of flak about the surface but preparing to play at the Telstra Dome I reckon is second to none. It's a great arena and I really enjoy playing there and so does the team. We have a good record there."
What had he learned from watching the past two games?
"The boys have improved again," he said. "We're going to have an upward trend hopefully for the whole year. We'll have our games where we don't play as well, like we've had already this year, but certainly when we get it right we're playing some pretty good footy.
"The younger players are getting confident, and not only playing but performing, and that's just given us great depth. To be able to do what we've been able to do over the last few weeks with eight or nine of our probable starting 22 out is a pretty good effort.
"One of the things we've wanted to do is improve those junior players and backbone players, and they're coming on as quickly as we would have liked."
Matthew Clarke and Ken McGregor rested from training but will play on Sunday, and Brett Burton will resume from a two-match suspension.
But Matthew Bode is in 'serious doubt', according to club officials. He missed training on Wednesday because he was still feeling the effects of a heavy knock to the head in last Saturday night's showdown.