EMERGING Adelaide defender Brodie Smith will miss eight weeks of football with the Crows confirming he broke his collarbone in Sunday's NAB Cup clash against Port Adelaide.

Smith landed heavily after attempting a tackle early in the first half of the match and left the AAMI Stadium field immediately.

Adelaide confirmed on Monday that the 21-year-old running defender, who was a standout for the Crows in their 2012 finals campaign, had suffered a clean break of his collarbone.

"Unfortunately x-rays have confirmed Brodie Smith has a broken collarbone and is expected to be out for eight weeks," a club spokesman told AFL.com.au.

"Obviously it's very disappointing, but we'll back him in to be thorough with his recovery and to hopefully be back soon."

Crows coach Brenton Sanderson said after Sunday's NAB Cup round-robin that Smith's injury would test his side's depth, but he was confident he had players capable of stepping into the role.

"I liked a lot of what I saw from our young players today and even some of the guys playing for the club for the first time like (Kyle) Hartigan and (Rory) Laird were very good," Sanderson said.

"At different times I thought (Mitch) Grigg and (Angus) Graham in the second game were both very good, (Sam) Kerridge and (Brad) Crouch at different times looked pretty sharp and I liked Cam Ellis-Yolmen. I thought he showed that he's going to be a player for us in the future."

Sanderson also named former Tiger Richard Tambling as one set to challenge for the now-vacant spot in defence.

He said the 26-year-old had enjoyed a bumper summer after being named the 2012 best and fairest for Sturt in the SANFL.

Tambling was close to senior selection for much of the second half of last season and was listed as an emergency for five of the last eight rounds.

"[Tambling] was good, he got his hands on the ball, he's got fast feet, he gets out of trouble. We're still working on his kicking efficiency – a few times today the ball didn't hit the target," Sanderson said.

"He's had a really good summer and I think he's really wound up for a good start to the season and with (Michael) Doughty and now probably Smith out for start of the season there's a couple of positions that are available."

Richard Tambling is a defender in NAB AFL Fantasy. He scored 30 points in his only game of 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.