ADELAIDE is set to regain star recruit Izak Rankine for Saturday night's season defining game against Sydney at the Adelaide Oval, while defender Mitch Hinge has been cleared of structural damage to his knee.

Rankine has missed the past three games after straining his hamstring in the final quarter of the Crows' four-point loss to Melbourne at the MCG in round 19.

But after Adelaide erred on the side of caution ahead of the trip to Queensland on the weekend, the South Australian is on track to return against the Swans in a game that shapes an early elimination final. 

Rankine kicked 3.3 from 20 disposals in his most recent appearance to take the South Australian to 35.25 from 18 appearances since crossing from Gold Coast during last October's trade period. 

The 23-year-old trained over the weekend and will need to prove his fitness this week before being cleared to return for the penultimate weekend of the home and away season. 

Hinge hyperextended his knee late in the first quarter of Saturday's loss to Brisbane and appeared to have suffered a serious injury, but then returned to play out the game with his knee strapped. 

The 25-year-old underwent scans back in Adelaide on Monday that ruled out anything serious, although he will need to be assessed later in the week. 

Hinge has been a revelation for the Crows across the past two seasons, playing 37 games after being signed as a delisted free agent at the end of 2020. 

The South Australian managed only three appearances across four seasons at Brisbane before turning his back on a one-year extension at the Lions to pave the way to West Lakes. 

Matthew Nicks and some of his coaching team spent Friday night at the Gabba inside the Brisbane Broncos coaching box, observing highly regarded NRL coach Kevin Walters go to work up close against the Parramatta Eels.

Adelaide remains in the hunt to return to September for the first time since 2017, but the Crows’ 1-8 record away from Adelaide Oval may prove too costly, even despite gallant losses on the road against top-four sides Collingwood (two points), Melbourne (four points) and Brisbane (six points). 

Sydney has recovered from having only six wins on the board after round 17 to be in the eight after winning five games on the trot, but despite being half a game inside the eight, they will have to navigate two tricky assignments with Melbourne still to come on the final Sunday of the home and away season.