CROWS coach Neil Craig has urged his players not to use Barry Hall's well-publicised personal issues as a tactic to try to inhibit the burly forward's performance on Saturday night.
Hall, who has missed the past two matches through a club-imposed sanction, was earlier this week given the all clear from the Swans psychologist and will return to the field against Adelaide this week.
The lines of sledging have become blurred in recent times with separate incidents involving Bulldog Will Minson, Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes, Saint Nick Riewoldt and WA playing duo Adam Selwood and Des Headland sparking controversy.
Craig said he would like Hall "not to be a significant player on the day", but doubted his defenders would result to using personal insults or approach the task of stopping the gun forward any differently to previous years.
"Barry plays really physical and I don't think that will change. I expect our players to play it physical and go really hard at the footy and when you get two opponents playing physical, there will be some verbal because it's the nature of the game," Craig said.
"I certainly don't expect and wouldn't want our players to use Barry's personal situation [as a tactic]. I don't think we need that tool to get the result we want."
Both sides were forced to make changes to their respective line-ups this week, with the Swans losing veteran duo Leo Barry and Michael O'Loughlin to injury and the Crows losing enigmatic forward Luke Jericho to a hamstring.
Replacing Jericho will be emerging star Jason Porplyzia, who has made a remarkable recovery from a potentially season-ending shoulder injury two weeks ago.
"The immediate thought after the Collingwood game was that that was it for Jason this year," Craig said.
"Once the specialist examined him he suggested that Jason give his shoulder one last chance at rehab, which we've done. Jason is really comfortable and happy with it at the moment, so we've decided to take that risk – and there is an element of risk.
"But I'm really pleased that Jason has showed the attitude of, 'let's have one more go of it' and I think that's reflective of the attitude of our playing group and where we want to go.
"If it comes out again and we can get it back in, he needs to be able to play with it and to continue on. If he can't do that, then that will be the end of the road, so we keep our fingers crossed for Jason."
High-flying forward Brett Burton, who also suffered a serious injury in the clash with Collingwood, is expected to know where his future lies within a month.
Burton, 30, will be sidelined for up to 12 months after undergoing a full knee reconstruction and is out of contract at season's end.
Craig denied any decision on Burton's playing career had already been made.
"We had a good discussion during the week on list management in general and Brett's name and his situation was obviously spoken about. We still haven't made a final decision, but at least it's up on the table. He'll get a very fair hearing," Craig said.
"I would think a decision would need to be made in the next few weeks and we start to meet on a regular basis from this point on."
