WILL he or won't he? The question on everyone's lips for the past two weeks. Will captain Mark Ricciuto make his long-awaited return to football against the Dees? If Roo gets through training on Friday morning, the answer will be yes.

The more pressing issue for coach Neil Craig is who to drop to make way for the powerful figure. The club creed states that any player picked is expected to perform. The fulfilment of this principle by every player in the current 22 means the unfortunate one will be very unlucky to miss out.

Adelaide's recent form: beat Carlton by 19, beat Richmond by 9, beat Brisbane Lions by 31, lost to Collingwood by 24 and lost to Fremantle by 1.

Recent form against Melbourne

Round 22, 2006 Adelaide 23.14 (152) d Melbourne 14.10 (94), AAMI; round three, 2006 Adelaide 15.12 (102) d Melbourne 14.13 (97); Carrara round 19, 2005 Adelaide 13.22 (100) d Melbourne 7.4 (46); AAMI round seven, 2005 Melbourne 11.12 (78) d Adelaide 7.12 (54); MCG round 14, 2004 Adelaide 22.13 (145) d Melbourne 10.13 (73)

Strengths

Last week the Crows set up 14 of their 15 goals from their defensive 50m. Marty Mattner had his best game for the season and in combination with Andrew McLeod, Graham Johncock and Nathan Bassett rebounded countless Carlton attacks.

Adelaide's cool heads in the backline have conceded fewer points than any team in the competition with the exception of West Coast. Now with Roo parked at full-forward, the Crows should be able to better capitalise on the attacking proficiency of their defenders.

Potential weaknesses

The early loss of Jon Griffin in the game against the Blues was well masked by the dominant Ben Hudson. With a few cameo appearances from Ian Perrie, Hudson was able to counteract the ruck opposition of Cain Ackland and Josh Kennedy.

This week, if Griffin fails to pull up from a minor ankle strain, Hudson faces a bigger dilemma. Melbourne's Jeff White averaged 24 possessions and eight marks against the Crows last season and has significant backup in Paul Johnson.

Ivan Maric is the only other fit ruckman at West Lakes, but is seriously lacking form and consistency. Most likely to make his return is the smaller Ken McGregor who has been a solid contributor for the Eagles in the SANFL since recovering from an achilles complaint.

They're sweating on

Adelaide has done just enough to dispose of cellar-dwellers Carlton and Richmond in the past two weeks.Melbourne looms as another danger game for the Crows, as the Dees look to get their first win on the board. The luckless Dees suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Kangaroos last week and could have handy players Matthew Bate, Matthew Whelan and Colin Sylvia ready to resume.

Cameron Bruce was sensational against the Roos last week and almost single-handedly won the game for Melbourne in the round three clash with Adelaide in 2006. Crows stopper Rob Shirley is also coming off a solid performance and will wear the Dee's match winner like a glove.

Dangermen

Ben Hudson: Hudson's stocks have risen to blue-chip in the space of a week, with Adelaide's big man curse claiming exciting youngster Jon Griffin. If Griffin is ruled out, Hudson will be forced to carry the ruckload regardless of who comes in to replace him. The 28-year-old works exceptionally hard at the stoppages and is ranked in the league's top three in clearances by ruckmen.

Jason Porplyzia: Dubbed "the next big thing", by teammate Scott Thompson, Porplyzia showed his infinite class in the win over Carlton. The highly-skilled onballer slotted through three goals, including two in the second quarter that put Adelaide back in the game. Porplyzia had 25 touches, nine marks and a goal when these two sides met last season and will be looking to cement his spot with a string of good performances.

Ben Rutten: Rutten had a mixed day against the Blues last week. The All-Australian full-back was assigned the task of minding Carlton spearhead Brendon Fevola but found himself with the bigger challenge of thwarting potential match winner Jarrad Waite. Rutten's likely opponent this week, David Neitz, booted nine goals in two games against the Crows last season and coming off a four-goal bag will be difficult to stop.

It's not generally known...

Defenders Graham Johncock and Marty Mattner polled four out of the six Brownlow votes in the Crows' win over Melbourne in round 22, 2006.

The views in thisstory are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.