Adelaide has recalled leading goalkicker Taylor Walker and promising defender Sam Shaw for the Club’s clash with Fremantle at Patersons Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Walker returns after serving a two-match suspension for a heavy tackle on Geelong defender Harry Taylor in round seven while Shaw will line-up in only his second AFL game.
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The athletic defender made an impressive debut against Greater Western Sydney in round four, but missed the next two weeks after developing hamstring tightness.
Walker and Shaw have been included at the expense of Ricky Henderson (omitted) and midfielder David Mackay, who will miss the trip to Perth with a minor hamstring complaint.
Coach Brenton Sanderson said he expected Mackay to be available for the Club’s next home game against St Kilda in round 12.
“D-Mac only has a mild hamstring. The bye comes at a good time because he’ll miss two weeks, but hopefully only one game. He’ll be back in line for selection for the St Kilda game on Friday night (June 15),” Sanderson told afc.com.au.
“The unlucky one is ‘Hendo’. He hasn’t really done much wrong, but we wanted to get ‘Shawy’ back in. As we saw, Sam was fantastic against Greater Western Sydney but then had a little injury setback with his hamstring, and we didn’t want to risk him.
“With Freo’s forward set-up, Shawy gives us the flexibility of another really good defender. We really like him as a player and he makes us look really settled back there.
“It’s a good in for him and getting ‘Tex’ back is a huge advantage as well.”
The clash with Freo will be Adelaide’s only trip west this season.
The Crows last win at Patersons Stadium was against the Dockers in round three, 2009.
Get the latest news on Fremantle, including this week’s team in ‘Enemy Territory’
Sanderson said his side would make slight adjustments to its game style to combat the unique dimensions of the ground.
“Patersons Stadium is no bigger in size than the MCG or AAMI Stadium, it’s just longer and skinner,” he said.
“You have to adjust the way you play a little bit, but you can sometimes overemphasise it. It probably helps us more defensively, but we’ll have to be a bit smarter with the way we move the ball in attack.”
The team is:
B: Michael Doughty, Ben Rutten, Brodie Smith
HB: Matt Jaensch, Daniel Talia, Brent Reilly
C: Nathan van Berlo, Patrick Dangerfield, Bernie Vince
HF: Jared Petrenko, Taylor Walker, Richard Douglas
F: Ian Callinan, Kurt Tippett, Jason Porplyzia
R: Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Rory Sloane
INT: Josh Jenkins, Graham Johncock, Sam Shaw, Matt Wright
EMERG: Ricky Henderson, Chris Knights, Tom Lynch
INS: Sam Shaw, Taylor Walker
OUTS: David Mackay (hamstring), Ricky Henderson (omitted)
