Painkillers have nasty side-effects for Porplyzia

HAVING to play through pain may have finally caught up with Jason Porplyzia, with anti-inflammatories suspected of causing his hospital emergency last Friday night.

Porplyzia was rushed to hospital with a stomach ulcer after Adelaide's narrow win over Carlton at AAMI Stadium , having taken four marks and collected eight disposals.

The 28-year-old has endured reoccurring shoulder problems throughout his 110-game career, including two reconstructions - in late 2008 and early 2011.

On Thursday, he said taking anti-inflammatories and painkillers in order to play each week might have taken its toll, with a common side effect of such drugs being that, over time, they can eat away at the stomach lining and increase the risk of ulcers.

"Yeah they think [anti-inflammatories] might be a possible reason but we're still actually not too sure, still waiting on results so we'll just wait and see I guess," Porplyzia said.

"I've been hearing of things having happened to guys [due to anti-inflammatories] ... inevitably when you're taking these sorts of things something's going to crop up at some stage.

"It was a bit worrying at the time, but obviously I was in good hands with the doctors at the football club, so I guess if you were going to have a scare like that it was nice to have it at the football club.

"I don't want to go into too much detail but I didn't feel too good after the game and things escalated from there."

Despite the scare, Porplyzia is confident he will be ready for his side's round one clash with Essendon in two weeks.

"I feel good now, I feel fine – no worries. [I've] just had a light week on the track and I'll go back into full training next week and should be fine," he said.

"At this stage I'm looking to play [against Essendon]."

Speaking in Adelaide's Rundle Mall on Thursday after having his head shaved in support of the Leukemia Foundation, Porplyzia predicted as many as 12 sides would push for a top-eight spot in 2013.

"Looking at all the teams, [you] can see improvement in all teams, there's probably 10 or maybe even more, 10, 12 that are certainly going to be pushing for finals and top four," he said.

"Certainly there's going to be no easy game and we're going to have to make sure we're playing well every week."

While Porplyzia was joined by teammates Sam Shaw, Sam Kerridge and Kyle Hartigan, the Crow with the most iconic haircut, Talyor Walker, was a noticeable absentee from Thursday's shave.

Porplyzia hoped Walker's mullet could raise valuable funds next year.

"We would have liked to have seen him with the nude nut, but there's a bit too much history behind that mullet and [it's] representing South Australia," he said.

"Maybe we'll get him next year."

Jason Porplyzia is a forward in NAB AFL Fantasy. He averaged 77.05 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.

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