Izak Rankine's four-game ban shouldn't weigh against the Adelaide playmaker's All Australian hopes, Crows coach Matthew Nicks says.
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Rankine will miss one-third of the season with his suspension casting doubt on his claims for higher honours.
The brilliant utility is also among Adelaide's club champion leaders despite earlier missing three games because of a hamstring injury.
Rankine's four-match suspension starts when the Crows host St Kilda on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.
The Crows star was banned for an off-ball bump which concussed Brisbane's Brandon Starcevich in Adelaide's 11-point away loss last Sunday.
But Nicks believes Rankine's All Australian prospects shouldn't be harmed.
"I'm very biased," Nicks told reporters on Friday.
"I get to watch him every week and I know how good his season has been up to this point.
"But that's not for me to decide, unfortunately, because if I was deciding I would put him in."
Rankine's three-game absence from rounds 12-14 when injured mean he'll miss seven matches.
And the ban is a blow to Nicks' chances of steering a late-season revival of the Crows, in 15th spot with just five wins.
"I don't believe there was any intent to hurt," Nicks said.
"Unfortunately that moment might be one he looks back on and says: 'Well, I made a mistake'.
"In the end we challenged it in a way it wasn't about it being right or wrong, it was about maybe how long he was going to miss."
Key forward Riley Thilthorpe will play his first AFL game of the season against the 14th-placed Saints, who are two premiership points ahead of Adelaide.
Crows hierarchy were raving about Thilthorpe's pre-season until the 22-year-old suffered a knee injury in the final quarter of Adelaide's last trial game in March.
"He has done a hell of a lot of work to be fit and ready to go from a fitness point of view," Nicks said of Thilthorpe, who has played the past two state league games.
"He's still going to get his touch back, as any player does when they miss that much footy.
"We're looking for him to come in and impact the game.
"But we're also understanding that the expectation can't be too high when you haven't played that much football across the last six months."
The Crows will also debut Hugh Bond, a 19-year-old taken with pick 50 at the 2022 draft, with defender Mitch Hinge (shoulder) out.
The Saints, after toppling ladder-leaders Sydney by two points last weekend, are without Bradley Hill (personal reasons) and Marcus Windhager will miss at least six weeks because of a hamstring injury.
Coach Ross Lyon recalled experienced duo Zak Jones and Riley Bonner.
Australian Associated Press
