Adelaide forward Jason Porplyzia's chances of a round one AFL start against Collingwood may hinge on his ability to make a return to competitive action this weekend.

The Crows had long planned to gauge Porplyzia and his reconstructed right shoulder either by playing him in their last pre-season match - against Sydney last Friday - or by releasing him to West Adelaide for their local league meeting with Port Adelaide this Saturday.

Senior coach Neil Craig, whose preference had always been for Porplyzia to play some sort of football ahead of the Magpies match, conceded on Friday it was unlikely that he would see any.

But Porplyzia trained well on Monday afternoon and was included among the players Adelaide requested for SANFL game time on the weekend.

Should he play a half with West Adelaide and get through, he would be a strong chance of resuming his rightful place as a predatory small forward in the Crows' attack at the MCG on March 28.

Porplyzia, Ben Rutten (knee) and Nathan van Berlo (foot) will continue their rehab efforts while their fully-fit teammates enjoy a few days away from the club.

More encouraging for Adelaide is the fact that the younger players given chances due to injuries have shown enough to suggest they would acquit themselves ably if picked for the start of the premiership season.

Andy Otten, Myke Cook, Taylor Walker, Jarrhan Jacky and Jared Petrenko were all particularly useful against the Swans, providing an array of options.

The recovery of Rutten from knee clean-out surgery looms as most important, since his return to fullback would allow better use of the versatile Scott Stevens, who had four goals kicked on him by Sydney target man Barry Hall.

"We've got Rutten, van Berlo, Porplyzia, Symes to come back in, so I'd sooner be in the side at the moment than not, but all four of those players have a track record that is pretty good," Craig said on Monday.

"If I put the four players we spoke about on the table then we've got some big decisions to make and so we'd have to work our way through that."

The group will re-convene to train on Saturday, minus those running around in the SANFL.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP