Ruckman Sam Jacobs looks set to take his place in the Crows team to play Fremantle on Sunday.
Jacobs suffered a nasty corked hip in an occurrence of ‘friendly fire’ when teammate Patrick Dangerfield jumped third-man up at a ruck contested against Gold Coast.
The in-form big man was substituted out of the game at three-quarter time, but completed Adelaide’s main training session on Friday and is likely to play against the Dockers.
“Sam looks good. He got through the full session today. We’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow before we set off (to Perth), but if he gets on the plane tomorrow he’s almost certainly going to play,” Sanderson said.
“We had a 40-minute session today and he didn’t look restricted. He did some ruckwork and some controlled contact. It looks like he’ll be fine to play. He’s a pro. He did lots of recovery work this week. He’s been down the beach every night wading through the water and has been getting treatment every day.
“To his credit, it looks like he’s going to come up.”
Forward Taylor Walker, who was on light duties earlier in the week, also trained on Friday.
Sanderson said Walker’s controlled start to the week was “precautionary” as the Crows prepare for consecutive six-day breaks between games.
“Tex is fine. He did the whole session today as well,” Sanderson said.
“He had a corkie in his calf, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary for most players. He’ll certainly play.”
The availability of Jacobs will be crucial as the Crows prepare to combat the Fremantle onball brigade led by giant Aaron Sandilands. It shapes as an enthralling ruck battle, with Sandilands ranked No.1 in the competition for hit-outs to advantage and Jacobs third.
“Sandilands is a unique ruckman in that he’s 10 centimetres taller than the every ruckman he plays against,” Sanderson said.
“He’s the No.1 hit-out player this year, which he is every year. Sauce will still win his fair share of hit-outs, but we have to understand this will be a week where we’ll be sharking Sandilands’ hit-outs as well.”