Experienced defender Kyle Cheney breaks down in SANFL as Adelaide’s injury list mounts

UNDERMANNED Adelaide has taken another injury hit with experienced defender Kyle Cheney breaking down in the SANFL.

DOWN BUT NOT YET OUT: Crow David Mackay was concussed against Richmond but the club hopes he will play against St Kilda on Saturday night. Picture: David Mariuz (AAP).

UNDERMANNED Adelaide has taken another injury hit with experienced defender Kyle Cheney breaking down in the SANFL.

The key backman — one of the contenders to fill the void left by intercept king Jake Lever’s departure to Melbourne — hurt his right hamstring in the third quarter of Saturday’s round one SANFL clash against the Port Adelaide Magpies.

He left the field immediately to ice the hamstring, with scans today to determine the extent of the damage.

Crows SANFL coach Ryan O’Keefe described Cheney’s 13-disposal, four-mark game as “really good’’ before he was injured.

While not a first-choice player, Cheney captained Adelaide to this year’s AFLX title at Hindmarsh Stadium and the likely absence of the 77-game former Demon and Hawk adds to an increasing Crows injury list that has tested the club more at the start of this season than at any other time in Don Pyke’s three-year reign as coach.

Adelaide used the fewest players in the league in 2016 and 2017, with 29 and 31 respectively.

The Crows’ superb six-goal, backs-to-the-wall triumph in the grand final rematch against Richmond on Thursday night came without first-choice men Tom Lynch (virus), Brodie Smith (knee), Brad Crouch (groin), Richard Douglas (suspension), Sam Gibson (hamstring) and Riley Knight (ankle), along with Curtly Hampton (thigh) and Alex Keath (ankle).

Reigning club champion Matt Crouch (hamstring), fellow All-Australians Rory Sloane (foot) and Daniel Talia (knee) and wingman David Mackay (concussion) were hurt during the game, with only Sloane and Talia returning to the field after receiving medical attention.

Key forward Josh Jenkins — a star against the Tigers with five goals — conceded after the game that captain Taylor Walker (foot) and Wayne Milera (knee) were underdone after pre-season injuries and could have benefited from another week on the track building their fitness.

The Crows will regain Douglas from a one-match suspension for Saturday night’s clash with struggling St Kilda at Etihad Stadium while they hope Lynch can prove his fitness at training during the week.

Sloane and Talia are expected to be fit but will be given light weeks on the track.

A nine-day break between matches gives Mackay a good chance of passing concussion protocols but Matt Crouch will miss significant time with a badly strained left hamstring.

Illustrating the Crows’ injury struggles at the start of the season was their SANFL team’s 95-point thumping at the hands of the Magpies at Alberton Oval.

“That’s always a challenge, that’s the nature of the game,’’ Pyke said of a mounting injury list.