ADELAIDE prime mover Matt Crouch has been ruled out of Saturday's top-eight clash with Brisbane at the Gabba.

Crouch has a small muscle tear in his hip and failed a fitness test on Friday morning.

The All Australian midfielder is averaging 31.2 disposals and 4.2 clearances per game this season.

Bryce Gibbs – who missed last weekend's Showdown with a back injury – replaces Crouch in the side, with Myles Poholke added to the emergencies.

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Crows coach Don Pyke was hopeful Crouch would return for next Saturday's game with West Coast at Adelaide Oval.

"Matt hurt his hip in the game last week and came off just after half-time, and we thought it was going to settle down, one of those traditional hip pointers, but it turned out, as we investigated further, there was a little bit of jamming up with a little bit of muscle damage, right on the hip as it leads into the abdominal area," Pyke told reporters at Adelaide Airport on Friday.

"He never really got going this morning, so he misses out.

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"It's one of those things – we'll now let it settle down and treat it accordingly, but hopefully next week he'll come back into the mix."

Gibbs returns to the midfield for the first time since being dropped after round three.

The 30-year-old veteran of 258 games played his previous two senior games – in round five against Gold Coast and round seven against Fremantle – across half-back.

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"He's played a lot of footy as a mid and down back, he played reasonably well for us down back a couple of weeks ago, but he's played a lot of footy as a mid," Pyke said.

"He's ready to go and looking forward to the opportunity."

Competition for spots will heat up in the next few weeks, with Richard Douglas and Paul Seedsman returning from long-term injuries in the SANFL this weekend, while Wayne Milera and Sam Jacobs should be back in a fortnight.

Defender Brodie Smith will take his place in the side despite having a tight calf that restricted him to jogging laps at training on Thursday.

"He had a little bit of a calf, but he trained fully this morning and at this stage, he's expected to play, there's no real issue with him," Pyke said.

First-round draft pick Ned McHenry is the travelling emergency.

The Crows have won their past seven games against the Lions in a streak stretching back to round 21, 2012.

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