Crows midfield assistant Scott Camporeale says Adelaide made a hard call, but the right call, by leaving Brad Crouch out of this week’s senior side.
Crouch was omitted ahead of Adelaide’s clash with Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday after the onballer collected 14 possessions for the second game in a row during the Club’s loss to Geelong last round. His disposal efficiency was also well down.
Crouch will instead line up for Adelaide’s SANFL team on Saturday at Elizabeth as he looks to regain consistency in his performance.
The midfielder was sidelined for the entire 2015 season due to a foot injury and also battled a hamstring issue which saw him miss another four AFL games earlier this year.
Camporeale said he was confident the 22-year-old would bounce back.
“It’s always difficult when you think there’s a guy that’s potentially in your best 22,” Camporeale said at Adelaide Airport on Friday morning.
“But we’ve got to make some hard calls at times and Brad’s missed a lot of footy.
“We just think we needed to make a really smart decision that he goes back (to the SANFL) and actually gets some real match fitness and match hardness and plays the way we want to play. It’s not about possessions, it’s about how we want to play.
“Now he goes back and (we’ll) see if he can fight his way back in again.”
Brad’s younger brother Matt Crouch will also miss Adelaide’s match against the Suns due to soreness.
The 21-year-old midfielder has missed just one game, also against Gold Coast in Round 17 last year, since Round Six of the 2015 season. Crouch also played in all three of Adelaide’s pre-season NAB Challenge games.
“It’s just precautionary,” Camporeale said of the decision to rest Matt Crouch.
“He’s been a bit banged up. He’s played a lot of footy. He had a serious injury at the start of last year, he’s had a full pre-season and hasn’t missed a game.
“He’ll be in contention for next week.”
Nathan van Berlo will return for his first AFL game since the opening round while Jarryd Lyons has also been recalled for Adelaide’s trip to the Sunshine State.
Lyons played four consecutive matches earlier in the season averaging 18 possessions, four clearances and a goal a game before he was omitted.
“That’s the beauty of AFL footy. There’s competition for spots,” Camporeale said.
“He (Lyons) understands that as well. He understands that he needs to be playing well enough to be in our best 22 week-in and week-out.
“It’s another great opportunity to get big game time and he gets another opportunity to show us that he can play at this level.”
Camporeale said van Berlo added versatility and leadership to Adelaide’s lineup.
“VB’s a quality person (and) obviously an ex-captain of the footy club,” he said.
“He brings flexibility and he brings experience for us.”
The Crows are currently clinging to eighth spot on the AFL ladder with a 4-4 record. Adelaide will be aiming to snap a two-game losing streak and cement its spot in the top eight with a ninth-straight victory over Gold Coast this weekend.
After two losses in two weeks, Camporeale said the Crows needed to get back to playing their style of footy.
“Last week there was some really good signs… that obviously kept us in the game,” he said.
“We’ll be looking at the three main focus areas that we’ve always looked at that Don says. We’ll be looking at how we defend, how we move the ball and our contest.
“That’ll be a real indication for us.”
