FORWARD Brett Burton was one of half a dozen players missing from Crows training on Monday, but it will be his absence in the next two games that will cause more concern for coach Neil Craig.
Burton and fellow Dream Team players Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod, Tyson Edwards, Ben Rutten and Nathan Bock have been given a few days off in lieu of their Hall of Fame tribute match involvement last month, but the high-flying veteran’s break was interrupted by the news of his two-match ban.
The in-form forward has accepted the two-match sanction for a head-high hit on Essendon’s Henry Slattery and will miss Adelaide’s next two games against Richmond and league leaders Hawthorn.
Burton’s ban will create a conundrum for the Crows match committee on Thursday.
Saturday’s state game between SA and Victoria couldn’t have come at a worse time for Adelaide with several key players in desperate need of match fitness.
Luke Jericho, who was left out of the side to play West Coast two weeks ago, is a possible replacement for Burton, but hasn’t played in almost three weeks having been an emergency in Subiaco and also having sat out last weekend’s SANFL bye.
Twin tall forwards Nick Gill and Trent Hentschel, who are both recovering from serious injuries, are also available but somewhat underdone, having played just a handful of SANFL league games between them.
Emerging midfielder/forward Jason Porplyzia said the selectors faced a “tough” decision this week.
“We’ve got Trent Hentschel and Nick Gill coming back after long injury lay-offs, so they could always come back into the mix and they are very good players in their own right,” Porplyzia said.
“It will certainly mean a bit of a re-jig in the forward line, but we’re confident that we can cover Brett’s absence.”
Gill, who was also hampered by injury in his first year at West Lakes, burst on to the AFL scene in round 17, 2007 and remained in the side to play the last six games.
The enigmatic forward quickly became a cult hero among Crows fans with his hard running and fierce attack on the ball and is a better chance to return to AFL this week than Hentschel, who is expected to be another few weeks away.
“We saw last year the impact Nick had in the few games that he played. He was certainly a big presence for us up forward,” Porplyzia said.
“He’s a strong marking guy and his running capabilities are up there with Brett. Nick is certainly someone we’re looking forward to getting back in the side.
“It’s a tough one [for the selectors]. Nick and Trent have both had a long time off, so they’re both probably still finding their feet a little bit.
“If they were to be rushed back into the side, it’s probably not ideal, but if they were to come back in they’d be expected to play at a certain level and I’m sure that they’ll be able to do that.”