Adelaide have brought in midfielder Brad Crouch and wingman Ricky Henderson into the side that defeated Fremantle by 33-points in Adelaide.
Henderson will play his first senior game of 2016, his first since undergoing back surgery in December.
Both Henderson and Crouch have submitted strong SANFL performances in recent weeks, Crouch in particularly pressing hard for selection after a 36 possession, ten clearance and ten tackle outing last weekend.
The 2013 Rising Star runner-up played the opening two rounds of the AFL season before a hamstring injury sidelined him for three week.
Stats Box
- Ranked 5th in handballs per game
- Ranked 1st in points per game
- Ranked 4th in hitouts per game
- Ranked 4th in least opponent marks per game
Talking Heads
"They've been really impressive. They pushed both North [Melbourne] and Hawthorn in the two games they lost," he said.
"The numbers would suggest they're not conceding a lot of inside 50s and their scores against are low, so defensively they're really strong.
"Certainly at half-time [last week against Fremantle] it was a real arm-wrestle and I think we can expect another – I wouldn't say similar style because they're a bit different in terms of style – but the Bulldogs are very strong around the contest, very strong on the spread, so we're going to have to make sure we're playing at a really high level."
- Don Pyke on the Bulldogs
"I mentioned three or four weeks ago [that] we were managing [him] as best we could with the foot … any player who's not able to train regularly, it takes a bit of a toll," Pyke said.
"He's through that now.
"I would expect he's going to get better and better from here.
"That said, in my eyes he's not playing poorly, he's probably just not playing to the standard which we would expect and we've seen in the past.
- Don Pyke on Crows forward Taylor Walker
Last time we met
Elimination Final, September 12, 2015. Adelaide Crows 14.18 (102) defeat Western Bulldogs 16.13 (109).
