ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig says he’ll stray from club policy by rushing defender Nathan Bock into the side to tackle Hawthorn at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.
Bock, 26, has not played since injuring his hamstring at training three weeks ago.
Earlier this season the Crows set a precedent by bringing Chris Knights back through the SANFL after an extended lay-off with a fractured eye socket.
But on Thursday Craig said the need to stop Hawthorn forwards Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead would override convention in Bock’s case.
"Nathan’s done everything he’s had to do physically. It’s a bit against our policy, but I think in this particular case—and we treat each case individually—he’ll come into the side providing he pulls up OK," Craig said.
"We’ve got through reasonably well [in defence] with Scott Stevens, but clearly Scott Stevens, up until he went back into defence, was our best-performed forward.
"The sooner we can get Nathan back into the fold and back into some form [the better]. And that’s probably more of the question – can he come back after three weeks and play a benchmark game like ... with the quality of opponents he’s going to have to stand?"
Michael Doughty, who played a very effective role on Carlton captain Chris Judd last week, copped a corked leg at training on Thursday but is expected to line up.
Kurt Tippett, Ivan Maric and Brad Moran are also likely to retain their spots, despite Bock's inclusion.
Last week, the Crows experimented with an extra big man for the first time this season.
Craig said the combination had created a nice balance within the team and admitted it could be used as a weapon against the depleted Hawks’ backline.
"I think we can still play the three talls and keep the pressure on in the ruck as well as keeping a genuine big guy up forward, whether it’s Moran, Maric or Tippett, because they’ve all showed they can play up there," he said.
The Hawks used a zone defence in their run to last year's premiership but have reverted to man-on-man tactics at different stages this season.
Craig said he expected the return of premiership players Stuart Dew, Xavier Ellis and Clinton Young to put a greater emphasis on zoning this week.
But he was confident his side had the defensive game to match.
"We held a side to no goals to half time last week and that’s twice we’ve done that this year," Craig said.
"Keeping a side to no goals at half time doesn’t happen because you’ve got six great backmen. That’s part of it, but that sort of score line is a result of team defence, just as it is if you get blown away."
Adelaide achieved another feat in its 44-point win over Carlton last week, recording more kicks than handballs in a game for the first time this season.
Craig was hopeful the Crows had started to find a better balance with their disposal.
"To instil handball into your game, experience tells me that there’s going to be overkill to start with for that to happen," he said.
"We don’t sit here and say, 'We want to have more handballs than kicks'. But it may be that way for a period of time until we can actually refine it and the players get used to the way it should be used."
