ADELAIDE star Izak Rankine has been named for Thursday night’s Gather Round opener against Geelong despite not joining his teammates for the Crows’ captain’s run on Wednesday evening.
The 24-year-old suffered a knock to his calf during the thrilling loss to Gold Coast last Saturday, with coach Matthew Nicks this week casting doubt over whether he will recover in time to face the Cats.
On Wednesday evening, Rankine was named in Adelaide’s squad of 23, with a final call on his participation set to be made before the first bounce on Thursday.
The teams were announced as the Crows trained at Prospect Oval, with Rankine not joining his teammates out on the ground. He instead did recovery work inside, away from the main group.
Nicks made it clear this week the club will not risk a longer-term injury for its key player.
“The speeds that he gets up to it does put some pressure on that calf, so the last thing we want is to lose him for a month or so,” Nicks said.
Rankine has enjoyed a strong start to the season and ranked at No.19 in AFL.com.au’s The 25 released this week.
He is thriving with more time as a midfielder, averaging 23.5 disposals, 6.8 clearances and 4.5 tackles this season.
The Crows have welcomed back midfield pair Matt Crouch and Zac Taylor for the game against the Cats, while James Borlase and Lachie Murphy have been omitted.
Borlase is on the emergencies list along with Sam Berry and Luke Pedlar.
The Cats have welcomed back veteran Mark Blicavs as well as midfielder Mitch Knevitt, who both missed last Friday night’s win over Melbourne.
Defender Jack Henry (hamstring) is out along with Ted Clohesy (omitted).
ADELAIDE
In: Z.Taylor, M.Crouch
Out: J.Borlase (omitted), L.Murphy (omitted)
R4 sub: Luke Nankervis
GEELONG
In: M.Blicavs, M.Knevitt
Out: J.Henry (hamstring), T.Clohesy (omitted)
R4 sub: Mark O’Connor
