Adelaide will be boosted by the inclusion of captain Rory Sloane and key defender Daniel Talia for Sunday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium.
Sloane has been sidelined since fracturing his hand in the Round Six loss to West Coast and after pushing for selection earlier in the week, the Crows skipper is eager to lead his side out.
“It’s incredible how quickly he’s (Sloane) been able to get the ball in his hands, get the physicality back,” coach Matthew Nicks told reporters on Friday.
“He’s just chomping at the bit to get back in there and join those guys and bring that slightly different dynamic that Sloaney brings, which is pretty hard at it, and lead by example.”
Talia is set to return after being managed against Collingwood, with Adelaide making a total of five changes for the Round 12 clash.
Lachlan Murphy, Jake Kelly and Myles Poholke have all been recalled into the final 22.
However, the team will be without senior leaders Tom Doedee and Tom Lynch, who will both miss due to injury.
Doedee was ruled out for the remainder of the season on Thursday, while Lynch is set to miss up to three weeks with a low-level hamstring injury.
In other changes, Ben Crocker won’t travel due to illness; Ned McHenry has been managed while forward Darcy Fogarty has been omitted.
The Crows will travel to Queensland early on Sunday morning ahead of first bounce at 1.05pm AEST / 12.35pm ACST.
“Sunday we’re up at 5.30 and we meet at the airport. The challenge is there but the guys have embraced that really well,” Nicks said.
“The given has to be our contest. We’ve been able to bring that the last couple of weeks.”
Sunday’s game will be shown live nationwide on Fox Footy. It will also be shown on-delay on Channel 7 in Adelaide from 3.30pm ACST after The Optus Crows Show.
Adelaide’s Round 12 team is…
IN: Murphy, Kelly, Sloane, Poholke, Talia
OUT: Lynch (hamstring), Doedee (hamstring), Crocker (illness), McHenry (managed), Fogarty
