Adelaide has confirmed one change to its team for Friday night’s blockbuster against Geelong.
Promoted rookie Alex Keath replaces defender Jake Lever, who will miss the top-of-the-table clash because of a hamstring injury. The Club is hopeful Lever will only be sidelined for one game.
Wingman Paul Seedsman, utility Jono Beech and draftee Jordan Gallucci are the emergencies.
Crows vice-captain Rory Sloane has been named and is expected to play after recovering from concussion.
Forward Josh Jenkins, who was struck down by food poisoning earlier in the week, also trained on Thursday and will take his place in the team.
Second-year onballer Wayne Milera Junior will miss another week with a calf complaint.
Keath, 25, has been promoted to Adelaide’s primary squad in place of midfielder Curtly Hampton, who is recovering from ankle surgery.
The athletic key defender/forward joined Adelaide as a Category-B rookie at the end of 2015.
A talented sportsman, the competitive Keath excelled at football and cricket as a junior.
The 198cm, 97kg, utility from Shepparton represented Vic Country at the Under-16 and Under-18 AFL National Championships. He was part of the 2008 AFL Academy intake alongside Hampton and Crows defender Kyle Hartigan, and West Australian stars David Swallow, Jack Darling and Mitch Duncan.
The cricketing all-rounder also captained Victoria’s Under-17 team and represented Australia in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was signed by the Gold Coast Suns as one of 12 eligible 17-year-olds, but never played for the club after quitting football and accepting a contract from Cricket Victoria.
Keath made his first-class cricket debut against the touring England team in December, 2010.
Over the next five years, he fought to secure a regular spot in the Victorian team, playing a total of seven first-class matches. He played a handful of Twenty20 games for the Melbourne Stars in the popular Big Bash League and spent several Australian winters playing cricket in England.
After returning from the UK in late-2015, Keath signed for South Australian Grade Cricket club Prospect. It was around this time the Crows presented him with a unique offer to join the Club as a rookie, while spending one last summer trying to earn another state cricket contract.
Despite a strong summer with the bat, which saw him earn a spot on the Adelaide Strikers T20 roster, Keath decided he was ready to make football his sole focus for the first time.
The left-footer was best on ground in his SANFL debut for the Crows against Glenelg in Round Five, 2016, and was named co-captain of the team alongside fellow Category-B rookie Hugh Greenwood this year.
Greenwood and Keath, who will play together on Friday night, are the only two Category-B rookies to play AFL football for the Crows.
Keath will make his debut at a sold-out Adelaide Oval.
Crows GA and 3 Game members can still scan in at the gate, but are advised to arrive early.
Gates open at 5pm ahead of the 7:20pm (SA) start. More in our game day guide.
The biggest crowd for a match featuring Adelaide and Geelong was 53,141 at Adelaide Oval in Round Eight, 2016. It remains the highest-ever attendance for a Crows home game.
On Friday night, forward Eddie Betts will play his 100th consecutive AFL game.
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If not required, Beech, Seedsman and Gallucci will line up in Sunday’s SANFL clash with Norwood.
The match at The Parade starts at 2:10pm.
Ticketed Crows members receive free entry to the Club’s SANFL games upon presentation of their 2017 membership cards.
The AFL team is:
IN – Alex Keath
OUT – Jake Lever (hamstring)
