The third of Saturday’s AFL Round 6 matches will be played between Adelaide Crows and Hawthorn Hawks. The opening bounce is set to commence at 4:10pm local time with the game to be played at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide. The away team Hawthorn Hawks are the current favourites for the match and will be looking to continue Adelaide’s poor start to the season. View our match preview and teams for the game between Adelaide Crows and Hawthorn Hawks.

Round: Round 6 4:10 PM May 04, 2013
Stadium: AAMI Stadium
Weather: 25° Partly cloudy.

Featured Bookmakers:

Adelaide Crows $4.15 vs Hawthorn Hawks $1.23 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Adelaide Crows $3.85 vs Hawthorn Hawks $1.27 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Adelaide Crows	4.15	4.25	3.85	4.25	4.15	4.20
Hawthorn Hawks	1.23	1.22	1.27	1.22	1.23	1.24

Preview:

The Crow’s have been slow out of the blocks this year and have registered wins over the lowly placed Lions and Bulldogs in their five matches.

Their aspirations to get the season rolling last week when hosting Carlton were dealt a blow early in the first quarter with a season ending injury to star forward Taylor Walker.

The home-side never figured thereafter and lost by 32 points (115-83).

Things do not get any brighter for the Crows as this week, the host the competition favourites in Hawthorn.

The Hawks had to work hard for their win over the Kangaroos last week after surrendering the lead in the third quarter, before sneaking home by three points.

That followed strong wins over Fremantle (in WA) and Collingwood and it’s hard to find a chink in the Hawks armour.

They are 2-0 when covering the line away from home this year and against a struggling Crows outfit, they’ll go close to making it 3-0.

Teams:

Adelaide Crows:
B: Ben Rutten, Daniel Talia, Andy Otten
HB: Luke Brown, Brent Reilly, David Mackay
C: Sam Kerridge, Scott Thompson, Brodie Smith
HF: Richard Douglas, Shaun McKernan, Jarryd Lyons
F: Jason Porplyzia, Tom, Lynch, Josh Jenkins
Foll: Sam Jacobs, Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane
Int: Ricky Henderson, Bernie Vince, Matthew Jaensch, Matthew Wright
Emerg: Lewis Johnston, Jared Petrenko, Richard Tambling

IN: Jarryd Lyons, Shaun McKernan, Jason Porplyzia
OUT: Taylor Walker (knee), Rory Laird (corked thigh), Jared Petrenko (omitted)

Hawthorn Hawks:
FB: Josh Gibson, Brian Lake, Luke Hodge
HB: Grant Birchall, Ben Stratton, Brent Guerra
C: Isaac Smith, Sam Mitchell, Brad Hill
HF: Shaun Burgoyne, Lance Franklin, Paul Puopolo
F: Luke Breust, Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston
Foll: Max Bailey, Jordan Lewis, Brad Sewell
Int: Liam Shiels, David Hale, Jonathan Simpkin, Michael Osborne
Emerg: Taylor Duryea, Kyle Cheney, Matt Spangher

IN: Brad Sewell, Jonathan Simpkin
OUT: Cyril Rioli (hamstring), Shane Savage (omitted)

In The News:

Hawks, Crows must dig into AFL depth

Quite literally, it appears a battle of two AFL teams using band-aids to cover the most critical of injuries.

But despite Hawthorn and Adelaide being without the irreplaceable Cyril Rioli and Taylor Walker respectively at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson doesn’t concede the absence of either will ultimately influence the result.

“Any coach will tell you crisis creates opportunity,” Clarkson said on Friday.

“Taylor’s a very, very good player. We’re obviously aware that him being out of the side helps us a little bit, but (replacement Shaun) McKernan is also a very good player who’s been waiting for his chance.

“We’re expecting him to come in and be a very formidable opponent.

“Cyril’s a special player for us, but injuries happen in this game.

“Cyril missing will hurt us, but every side cops injuries at some stage of the year, and you’ve just got to make do with what you’ve got when you miss those guys.”

Key forward Walker is out for the season with a knee injury, while Rioli’s troublesome hamstring snapped as he sprinkled four goals of magic dust over North Melbourne last weekend.

He faces at least seven weeks on the sidelines.

But Hawthorn regain ultra-consistent midfielder Brad Sewell after three weeks out with a hamstring injury.

The Hawks will also give ex-Geelong defender Jonathan Simpkin a club debut after he excelled during the pre-season but was unable to immediately force his way into Hawthorn’s best 22.

“He’s found it tough to get in the side in the early part, because we had a lot of our players up and going,” Clarkson said.

“Brad’s missed three games – we only thought he was going to miss one – and we’ve missed his presence and grunt.”

Adelaide will no doubt still harbour memories of last season’s agonising preliminary-final loss to the Hawks by less than a goal.

But more pressing is their need to bulk up an anaemic 2-3 win-loss record, in which they have only beaten strugglers Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs.

The Crows have made three changes.

As well as McKernan for Walker, experienced Jason Porplyzia and recent SANFL star Jarryd Lyons step in for axed Jared Petrenko and Rory Laird, who has not recovered from a badly corked thigh sustained last week.