Adelaide's prized recruit Bryce Gibbs will play all preseason matches to hasten his assimilation into his new AFL club.
Gibbs, who departed Carlton at the end of last season, will debut for the Crows in Sunday's preseason game against Fremantle in Strathalbyn in South Australia.
"It's important for Bryce coming across to a slightly different style of play to get him used to playing with some of the guys," Adelaide coach Don Pyke told reporters on Thursday.
The 231-gamer will also front for the Crows in their last preseason game, against Port Adelaide on March 10.
"He has hardly missed a beat through preseason ... he has pretty much done the full training and he's been really impressive," Pyke said.
"There's minor variations, I think, between the teams and how they play, probably the difference in language and terminology and some of the focus areas we have as compared to Carlton.
"But it's probably more for him building the chemistry and the link with the other players.
"We have got some guys who have played a fair bit of footy together and he hasn't, so the more opportunities he gets to play with guys that he's going to be playing with come the home-and-away (season), the better."
Injury-prone midfielders Hugh Greenwood and Brad Crouch won't play on Sunday as they get managed through the preseason.
Utility Riley Knight (ankle) and Jordan Galluci (foot) will also be sidelined along with captain Taylor Walker, who will miss both preseason games with a foot injury.
Pyke said Walker has resumed running and remained on track to play in Adelaide's premiership season opener on March 23.
The Crows, beaten grand finalists last season, plan to field a mix of youth and experience in their preseason games.
"We have tweaked and adapted a couple of things, a couple of principles we have changed around a little bit," said Pyke, entering his third season as Adelaide coach.
"After two years here we have built what I think is a solid foundation for some of the principles. And it's now where do we go from there?
"The areas we focused on last year, primarily around the contest and our team (defence), we think there is growth there.
"And the reality is that the game will change and shift marginally in certain ways so our ability to play well in all those phases becomes important."
Share
