ADELAIDE coach Matthew Nicks has primed his players to face a fired-up North Melbourne, with the Kangaroos buoyed by the emotional return of Ben Cunnington following his cancer battle.

Cunnington will play his first senior game since round 19 last season when the Roos take on the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday after he overcame a second bout of testicular cancer.

"What an incredible effort and inspiration for them," Nicks said on Friday.

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"It's similar to last week in that there was some inspiration and passion that came out with West Coast playing for Josh Kennedy (in his last game before retirement).

"We have an expectation that North Melbourne will get up and play for one of the legends of their club who has been doing it tough and has done an amazing job to get himself back into footy.

"It's another big challenge for us to make sure that we meet that and match it."

The Crows made two changes to the side that held off a late charge by the Eagles to score a 16-point win at Optus Stadium, with Tom Doedee and Riley Thilthorpe coming in for Will Hamill (concussion) and Elliott Himmelberg (omitted).

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Doedee returns after a two-game break, needed to freshen up after carrying a raft of niggling injuries.

Josh Worrell replaced Doedee in the line-up, with the young key defender doing enough in the veteran's absence to keep his spot on his return, forcing a rethink in defensive structure.

"We are a little taller than usual and conditions are probably going to be a little wet," Nicks said.

"But we have some guys who can play tall and small.

"So we still have a good balance, a good mix, behind the footy but a little taller than we normally are." 

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All-Australian midfielder Matt Crouch remains out of favour despite racking up 42 possessions in the SANFL last round.

Nicks insisted that Crouch, who has been dropped three times this season, remains part of his planning for next year.

"The weekend was probably the best game that he's had to this point and it's not around possessions, it's around what we're working on as a team," the coach said.

"We play a certain style of footy and he's adapting his game to that … I asked him for no more than what he gave last weekend.

"I said 'Mate, this is where we sit. We've got a team and a midfield that is performing well, you're performing well, just keep that pressure on for us'.

"We can't ask for more than what Matty has given."