ADELAIDE defender Brodie Smith will make his comeback from a knee reconstruction in the Crows' SANFL game against Central District at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday.
Smith was given the green light after completing the Crows' training session at Football Park on Wednesday.
It's his first game since tearing the ACL in his knee in last year's qualifying final win over Greater Western Sydney.
"I can't wait, I'm super-excited," Smith told the Crows' website.
"Obviously I've missed a lot of footy, I just can't wait to get back out there.
"I've trained my arse off now for a long time, so to get the reward of playing, it's really exciting."
Smith is aiming to return to the AFL in time for the finals should Adelaide make September action.
"As soon as I had surgery, the surgeon Will Duncan likes to say 12 months," Smith said.
"Straight away, I just said to him it has to be 11 because obviously the finals coming up and the year we had last year I didn't want to miss out on finals again.
"I'm still confident we can get there (to finals) and that's why I've still pushed to come back this week and put my hand up to get back as soon as possible."
Crows coach Don Pyke said it was too early to say how many games Smith would need in the SANFL before being considered for the senior side.
Whether the Crows are in finals contention or not won't be a factor in the decision, and he will play as much of the SANFL game as possible.
"How long he needs to spend in the SANFL will really depend on going back playing and recovering from playing because it's different, playing to training," Pyke said.
"The bumps and bruises, the speed of the game and building back his confidence.
"If he comes back, gets through a week or two, plays some good footy, I'm pretty confident we'd look at the Smith magnet on the match committee board.
"If he's ready to play, he plays."
The 26-year-old has played 143 games for the Crows since his debut in 2011 and was an All Australian in 2014.
The Crows are 11th on the ladder with an 8-8 record ahead of Saturday night's clash with Brisbane at the Gabba.
Key defender Daniel Talia remains a chance to return to the side despite having a small fracture in his shin.
"It probably sounds worse than it is, it's a non-weight bearing area of the leg," Pyke said.
"It really comes down to his capacity to tolerate that pain, and also the functionality it provides him.
"He looked better today (at training) and we'll give him every chance."
Forward Mitch McGovern could also return for his first game since suffering an ankle injury in the round eight Showdown loss to Port Adelaide.
However, it will be a match committee decision if McGovern plays his first game in 10 weeks in the SANFL, with Darcy Fogarty, Cam Ellis-Yolmen and Myles Poholke other options to replace suspended skipper Taylor Walker.
