The Crows are preparing to travel east to take on the second-placed Swans this Friday night.

Adelaide Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media on Tuesday about Taylor Walker’s management for the second half of the season, a forward duo’s selection prospects, the challenge of facing Sydney, and more.

Management plan for Taylor Walker

Crows all-time leading goalkicker Taylor Walker will be rested at some point across the back half of this season, with the Club set to manage the 36-year-old’s load to ensure he is fit for a potential finals appearance.

Nicks confirmed Walker would be rested within the next six weeks but said the coaching cohort was weighing up when that would be.

“We’ve got six weeks before hopefully a final series, but we've got some work to do to still get there,” Nicks said.

“So what we’re looking at now is ‘how do we best set ourselves over these six weeks?’

“And part of that will be how we manage Tex. He wants to play every single week, as every player does.

“With Tex, he’ll be managed at some stage over the next six (weeks), and we’ll just work our way through that. Will it be this week? Maybe not, but we’ll look at it over the next six weeks.”

Callum Ah Chee and Luke Pedlar set for another week in SANFL

Forwards Callum Ah Chee and Luke Pedlar returned from hamstring injuries in the Crows’ SANFL game against Glenelg on Sunday afternoon.

The pair got through the game unscathed - Ah Chee finished the game with 13 disposals, six tackles and a goal, while Pedlar amassed seven possessions and six tackles.

Nicks confirmed the pair would not be selected in the AFL side this week and would instead  be named in the Crows’ SANFL team for its Neil Kerley Memorial Match against West Adelaide.

“Cal will go again (in the SANFL),” Nicks said.

“It will just be one we work through with Cal, there’s a fair bit of trust in Cal for what he’s done over the time and the challenges he’s experiencing now, so we’re working through that, and it will be one we keep an eye on week-by-week.

“We had some limited numbers on what we wanted to see from him against the Bays, similar to Peds, so those guys will have another hit-out (in the SANFL).”

What to expect from the Swans

Sydney will enter the match after a 38-point loss to ladder-leaders Fremantle. 

The Swans did, however, lead the Dockers by 22 points at the main change and would be hoping to atone from a second-half fadeout.

Adelaide, meanwhile, will take plenty of confidence from its 79-point victory against the Suns.

Nicks said the Crows had plenty of respect for the Swans, who together with Fremantle, had been the benchmark team so far this year.

“I think those two teams (Sydney and Fremantle) have been a fair way ahead up to this point,” Nicks said.

“So it will be a big challenge for us, especially at the SCG.

“We look at what Sydney do really well…they've got a very exciting brand of footy if they get into the hands of the right people, and you give them too much time and space.

“Our challenge is to not give them that time and space. We say that a lot, it's easier said than done, but we're going to have to bring our best team to try and stop that.”

Nicks on McAndrew v Grundy

Adelaide big man Lachlan McAndrew is set to have a big challenge on his hands when he faces one of the competition’s best rucks in Brodie Grundy.

McAndrew has shouldered the ruck duties for the Crows this year, and against Gold Coast had 26 hit-outs, six clearances and kicked a goal.

Nicks was looking forward to watching the two battle it out and was confident McAndrew would be up to the challenge.

“We talk about elite ruckman and Grundy's obviously one,” Nicks said.

“I’ve seen Grundy firsthand, he trained at Port when I was there for a period, and he was just so incredibly strong in his first year as an 18-year-old before he was even drafted, so he's some sort of player.

“(It will be) a whole different challenge for Stretch (McAndrew) this week, but what Stretch has done really well, he’s risen to every challenge 

“He’s only really had his colours lowered once this year, and on the weekend he did some stuff we didn't even know he had in him. But it'll be a big, big challenge for him this week.”

Hall-Kahan to line up against former team

As confirmed earlier on Tuesday, Crows mid-season draftee Hugo Hall-Kahan will be recalled for the blockbuster against Sydney.

The 22-year-old was managed for last week’s game but will line up against the Swans, replacing injured defender Rory Laird.

Hall-Kahan will now get an opportunity to play against his former team after being selected by the Swans during the 2022 mid-season draft and spending 18 months on their list.

“We’ll train today and (if) everything goes well… Hugo will come back in,” Nicks said.

“It’s nice for him (Hall-Kahan), it’s where he started his footy, that was his first opportunity.

“Although it didn’t work out for him, he knows exactly why, but he loved his time at Sydney, as did I, so we share some stories about our time there.”

The Crows face the Swans at the SCG on Friday at 7.10pm (ACST), with the game to be broadcast live on Channel 7 Adelaide, Fox Footy and Kayo.