Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks has named his man to replace injured defender Max Michalanney against Hawthorn on Friday night, with medium defender Hugh Bond set to make his season debut.
Michalanney was ruled out for at least four weeks after suffering a hamstring injury during The Showdown on Saturday night, an unfortunate blow for the Crows as he had become a key part of their elite defence this season.
In his absence, Crows Media reported the 20-year-old Bond will be elevated to the senior side for the first time this season. Bond featured in seven games for the Crows AFL side in 2024 and has played strongly at SANFL level this year, averaging 13.6 disposals, 4.0 marks and 2.5 rebound 50s per game.
"Next man up, unfortunately for Max, so Bond will play," Nicks said.
"We have great respect for Hawthorn's small forward line, and how dangerous they are, so it would be nice to have a few Bond's to be honest. But we do rate our guys down back to get the job done as a team.
"'Bondy' is a great in for our group, it will be his first game for the year, and we know what he is going to bring."
Adelaide is also set to bring back Isaac Cumming after managing him last week, with Nicks stating the decision to omit him from the clash with Port Adelaide was merely a precaution.
"Last week was one of those ones where we just didn't want to take any risks. If it's a Grand Final, he would have played without a doubt," Nicks said.
"We made a decision that was bigger picture, he's been so important for us all year, and we didn't want to take any risk there. He's coming off a 12-day break, and we have been able to make sure he's as close to 100 per cent as he can be."
