THREE weeks between games has given Adelaide the welcome surprise of a solid training block ahead of finals.
Along with Melbourne, the Crows will play their preliminary final three weeks after finishing their home and away season.
Earning a weekend off after finishing in the top two, Collingwood's COVID-19 outbreak has pushed out the finals series by an additional week.
Adelaide will play Fremantle – which played its qualifying final against North Melbourne last weekend – on April 2 at Adelaide Oval.
GET YOUR TICKETS Why you must secure your seat in advance
"It looked like it was going to be a possibility last week, so we had freshened (the players) up with the prospect of playing this weekend, but even by the end of the week, we were planning for the game to be pushed," senior coach Matthew Clarke said.
"This week has been good. We've managed to get some quality training in, which is a little bit unusual at the back-end of the season, often you're in maintenance and management mode.
"To have the group fresh going into this week has enabled us to train with a fair bit of intensity, certainly on Monday, and tonight's session will be similar with a fair bit of go about it. To get that opportunity late in the season is fairly unique, so we're making the most of it."
Clarke said despite the lengthy break between games, full-blown scratch matches were off the table.
"Last week we … had some sharpness about it, but they were fairly light sessions. This week, we've trained really quite solidly. We haven't really done match sim as such, we've done some drills that replicate elements of the game, but not full match sim.
"Often, you can get more intensity out of breakdown drills than actual match sim. As silly as it sounds, sometimes the game is less demanding than the training you can do, so our drills have reflected that.
"You also have to function in the numbers on the track. Obviously, we've only got squads of 30, so if you've got two or three who aren't available, then you can't do full match sim anyway."
Adelaide will have as close to a full squad as possible available for its preliminary final against Fremantle, with just suspended duo Najwa Allen and Eloise Jones out of action.
It will be the second of two matches on the sidelines for defender Allen, but winger Jones will need to be replaced from the side that comfortably accounted for St Kilda in round 10.
Montana McKinnon, Brooke Tonon, Lisa Whiteley, Abbie Ballard and Maddy Newman were all omitted from the team for that match.
"We made some pretty significant changes coming to round 10, we had six changes in that game, and so a number of players who didn't play that week, it was a combination of reasons, but a little bit of it was just bringing in freshness for that game," Clarke said.
EXPANSION LIST RULES How the four new clubs can sign players
"A number of the players who didn't play, have had outstanding seasons, and went back and played good footy in the SANFLW, so I think we've got many options to choose from on that front. We're really fortunate.
"Clearly, Eloise has had an outstanding season, so it would have been nice for her to play a prelim. If I'm honest, I'm still disappointed about the decision, but we respect the process and we played that out (challenging at Tribunal), so we're ready to go."
Did you head to the footy over the weekend? Tell us your thoughts! Take the survey now
