The Crows have named experienced campaigners Jason Porplyzia, Brett Burton, Ivan Maric and young utilities James Sellar and Will Young in the 25-man squad to take on the Swans.
Porplyzia has recovered from a nagging pelvic complaint and will return to the side this week, having completed a full game with West Adelaide last weekend.
Sellar also played in the SANFL, but Burton (knee) and Maric (glute) are both coming off extended layoffs.
Adelaide is expected to take two ruckmen into the Easter Sunday clash, meaning Maric is likely to be recalled for his first game of the season.
Sellar could also come into the team at the expense of ruckman Jon Griffin.
Burton has not played since having surgery on his troublesome knee in February, but is renowned for his healing powers having made a successful comeback from a full-knee reconstruction last season.
The Crows will need to make at least two changes, with Scott Stevens (concussion) and Rory Sloane (ankle) ruled out and Craig said the injuries would see several players rushed back into the team.
“In the perfect world for us they [Burton, Maric, Sellar and Porplyzia] would all play SANFL this weekend because of the nature of the game, but just with the structure of our team at the moment, I’m going to have to make a decision to play certain people and that will depend on the position they play,” Craig said on Thursday.
“Some of those guys will come into our side and hopefully they’re able to play some top-level footy. We’re compromised only because of the situation we’ve got (with injuries).
"That’s the way the cards have fallen and there’s no way out of it, so we’re going to have to bite the bullet and play these guys at some stage.”
Forward Chris Knights trained on Thursday, but will make his comeback through the SANFL after spending six weeks in a moon boot to protect his injured foot.
The Crows struggled to put a score on the board in their 56-point loss to Fremantle last weekend.
The inclusions of Porplyzia and Burton should strengthen the club’s depleted forward line, but Craig conceded there was a risk in bringing the pair straight back into the side.
“Bernie Vince played in the SANFL the week before [round one] and played some good-touch footy. He was in good form, but I thought he was just off the pace against Freo,” he said.
“Let’s say they’re on paper at the moment, Knights, Burton, Porplyzia, Kurt Tippett, Patrick Dangerfield and Andrew McLeod, it’s a completely different forward line to what we’ve had. That looks good on paper, but the reality is when the ball is bounced, what’s happening? It’s the dilemma we have.
“I’ll make a decision on it and we’ll be judged on that decision based on performance.”
The Crows were smashed in the middle by the Fremantle midfield last weekend.
Craig said his side would need to drastically improve its all-round effort and intensity to maintain its six-game winning streak against the Swans on Sunday.
“The level of football I saw from us in round one, the best of it, is good enough, but the duration of it was poor and that’s our challenge. That’s better than sitting here saying, ‘I didn’t see anything’…but the result was still a 10-goal loss.
“We’re nowhere near the level that we want to be, and need to be at, to meet the expectation that we’ve put into the public arena.”
