ADELAIDE will make a decision on Trent Hentschel's future without seeing him in AFL action again this season, after coach Neil Craig revealed it was unlikely the injury-ravaged forward would face St Kilda in round 22.
Two weeks ago, Craig hoped to have another look at Hentschel before the end of the season, but on Friday he said the 27-year-old hadn't made enough progress to warrant selection at this stage.
"I had a discussion with Trent yesterday. He feels like he's progressing, but he needs to do more to come back into AFL-level competition," Craig said.
"He would have to play an exceptional game [in the SANFL] on the weekend."
Hentschel spent two years on the sidelines after badly injuring his knee against Port Adelaide in round 21, 2006.
He made his long-awaited comeback to the AFL in round one last year, but was forced back into rehab when his troublesome knee swelled up against St Kilda in round two.
He returned to play the last five games of 2009, re-signed for one year in October and played the opening three games of this season before suffering another setback.
Craig said the jury was still out on whether Hentschel's knee could withstand the rigours of regular AFL football.
"We know it can hold up at SANFL level, but what I have to try and get as much information on and try and predict is to whether it will hold up at AFL level, which is obviously another step up again," he said.
"I'll go through all that information at an appropriate time, which is not at the moment."
The Crows' decision to re-sign veterans Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Brett Burton and Andrew McLeod at the end of last year has failed to pay off; Edwards retired mid-season, Goodwin and Burton will end their careers on the sidelines and injured McLeod is racing the clock to add to his 340 games.
While Craig denied the club had been burned by its commitment to those four players, he said the mass exodus could help Hentschel in his bid for a new contract.
"Those guys were towards the end of their careers, so age in the end gets them but Trent is a bit different," Craig said.
"We'll have to sit down and look at all that because we're going to lose Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Brett Burton and Nathan Bock - they are four givens.
"I'm not sure what Andrew McLeod is doing at the moment, so there are four players and possibly five.
"That in itself is a big change, but clearly you need people on your list that are going to be capable of playing AFL footy and I guess that's the decision I have to make on Trent in the end."
Courageous Hentschel is one of the most popular players at West Lakes, and Craig said it was important that emotion didn't affect the club's final decision on the forward.
"The talent that he has, the fight and resilience that he's shown and the desire he has to play AFL football, he's signed off on his part of the bargain in terms of what he needed to do as a player," Craig said.
"On our side I think we've been able to give him an opportunity to demonstrate that. It might continue that way, but if it doesn't I don’t think that either party can say that we didn't it our best shot."
