LITTLE more than five months ago, something as simple as sitting on the couch could make Jason Porplyzia's shoulder dislocate.

Nevertheless, Porplyzia was still preparing to play in Adelaide's elimination final against Collingwood, until coach Neil Craig deemed it too risky and sent him off for surgery.

The forward saw out the previous weekend's win over the Western Bulldogs, kicking two goals, but his shoulder had troubled him from midway through the year.

He'd also suffered a setback at training in August, his first full session after brain bruising from a head clash sidelined him for three weeks.

"It was pretty loose and sloppy towards the end," he said of the joint. "I remember dislocating it at home a couple of times doing routine things.

"It got pretty bad but hopefully I don't have to deal with that this year. It was a bit of a hindrance last year and it was disappointing to not quite get through the whole season.

"I'm feeling pretty confident with it [now]. It's in pretty good shape. The surgeon did a really good job to tighten it up really strongly."

The 24-year-old should start contact training within a fortnight and maintains an aim of being available for the Crows' round-one game against the Magpies.

Though unavailable for the club's NAB Cup opener against Geelong at Telstra Dome on Saturday night, Porplyzia was in Melbourne on Friday to preview the game and expects a solid performance from his teammates.

"There's a lot of excitement around the place," he said. "A lot of new guys are going to be playing their first AFL game so they're very much looking forward to that.

"And [there's] a few other guys who have only played a handful of games as well, so it's going to be exciting to see those guys play and exciting for our supporters to watch them."

Adelaide will also welcome back forgotten forward Trent Hentschel, who suffered a knee injury in August 2006, and hasn't played for the club since.

Porplyzia said that some fresh faces in a new-look attack could feature in the pre-season competition and beyond.

The Crows face the first half of the season without 2008 leading goalkicker Brett Burton, who continues his recovery from a knee reconstruction.

However, two of the biggest changes of the summer have come in the coach's box, with Todd Viney crossing from Hawthorn and dual premiership captain Mark Bickley returning to the club after five years.

"[They've] brought across some new ideas," Porplyzia said. "Todd's brought a lot of experience from his time over at Hawthorn and Bicks, being an ex-premiership captain, is still learning the ropes but he's brought in a lot of new things as well.

"They've worked on our stoppage structures and the way we move the ball through the midfield.

Dream Team watch – Jason Porplyzia is rated a $347,300 forward in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.