ADELAIDE assistant coach Mark Bickley says the Crows haven't dismissed playing three tall forwards against Hawthorn on Saturday, if the injured Jared Petrenko is ruled out.

Petrenko injured his right shoulder in the dying moments of last Friday night's semi-final against Fremantle and, based on his post-match tears, didn't give himself a great chance of lining up in the preliminary final.

His tackling and defensive pressure have proved tremendous assets for Adelaide in 2012 and coach Brenton Sanderson admitted his omission would hurt.

Brodie Martin or Matthew Jaensch would be better replacements if the Crows wanted to go like for like, but the 197cm Josh Jenkins thrust himself into selection calculations last week with eight goals in his final appearance for Sturt in the SANFL.

With Hawthorn sporting a shorter-than-average full back line (defenders Matt Suckling, Josh Gibson and Benjamin Stratton are all listed at below 190cm), Bickley said Jenkins' chances of being selected were "slightly better" than they were last week against Fremantle.

"If it's not Jared, we've got plenty of other options…if we think picking three talls is the way to go we'll have no hesitation in picking Josh," Bickley said.

"We've split that structure throughout the year in terms of when we've played three talls and when we've played two talls, we've had success with both and we've had failure with both.

"Last week…the forecast wet conditions, night game, that probably in some respects made it…harder for Josh to get in, easier for us to go with two.

"This week it will be a whole new ball game and he'll be judged on his merits again."

Petrenko hasn't been ruled out of Saturday's game and trained with the group on Monday, but with shoulder injuries likely to hinder his tackling performance, Bickley conceded he would be up against it to prove his fitness.

If Jenkins did replace Petrenko, he would join two other talls in Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett who are in vastly different patches of form.

Walker proved the match-winner last Friday night with five crucial goals, while pressure on Tippett to lift his game only intensified after the 25-year-old managed just two marks and one goal.

Tippett's decision to put his contract talks with the Crows on hold until the end of the season was seen by many as a sign he would walk out on the club once its finals campaign was over.

Crows' inaugural coach Graham Cornes claimed the suspended negotiations had been "unsettling for the team", while Port Adelaide legend Warren Tredrea called for his axing in the lead-up to last Friday's semi final.

But Bickley maintained Tippett's value to Adelaide's team "can't be understated" and said that even the threat he posed for opposition defences was enough to guarantee him selection.

"On the weekend, Kurt takes the best defender and Taylor Walker takes the second best and kicks five goals, so his (Tippett's) position in the team is very, very important and I don't think can be understated," Bickley said.

"I'm certain that Alastair Clarkson would love to play a team minus Kurt Tippett, so he will be in our side."

Bickley also said an experienced "backbone" in defence would enable Sam Shaw's replacement to slot in without issue.

Shaw suffered a hamstring injury against Fremantle, with Andy Otten on standby for his first game since round 17.

The runner-up of the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star Award trained on Monday and Bickley said he was capable of filling Shaw's shoes.

"To be able to have a player of the calibre of Andy, had finals experience before, bigger body and has proven that he can stand up and play on a big stage, that's probably a fortunate position to be in," Bickley said.

"Our key and experienced defenders have played most games this year, so if you look at (Brent) Reilly, (Ben) Rutten, (Michael) Doughty, they're our three most experienced guys and the last couple of weeks they've been absolutely outstanding.

"We've got that really strong backbone and it's much easier for a couple of players to come and step into that."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.