Adelaide has confirmed young forward Archie Ludowyke and defender Oscar Ryan will make their AFL debut in the Crows' match this weekend against Essendon.
The Victorians will make their debut at Marvel Stadium at 4.40pm on Sunday in a must win game for Adelaide to stay in the top four hunt.
It follows 17 goals from 14 SANFL matches this year for Ludowyke, while Ryan was taken with Pick 23 in 2023 and has developed his craft in defence at SANFL level for the Crows, playing 42 games in the last three seasons.
Ryan enters the side with important defender Wayne Milera to miss.
“'Ludo's' one that's in the mix, I think there's a fair bit of excitement around what he's bringing, and the way he goes about his footy from his teammates and definitely from our coaching group,” Nicks said at his press conference on Thursday.
“He's still an extremely raw young key forward, but there's some football intelligence there and his attack on the ball is really strong."
The youngster will come into a forward line which contains the in-form Taylor Walker, deadeye Darcy Fogarty and man mountain Riley Thilthorpe, giving him the opportunity to ease into the top league.
It follows confirmation that fellow key forward from the 2025 draft crop Aidan Schubert will also make his first AFL appearance in 2026.
