Adelaide Crows selection news: Wayne Milera to play round 1, Sid Draper trains in ‘B team’

There could be as many as four fresh faces in Crows colours this weekend — but will one of them be Sid Draper? See who is in line to play here.

Sid Draper isn’t a lock for round 1. Picture: Dean Martin

Adelaide looks set to play Wayne Milera in Round 1 against St Kilda for his 100th game at AFL level despite the dashing defender not playing any minutes in the Crows’ official Community Series match.

Milera played a half in the Crows’ practice match against Port Adelaide at Mount Barker but then missed their pre-season clash against Brisbane in Queensland because of a quad injury.

The 27-year-old played just the three games for the Crows in 2024 after rupturing his patella tendon against Fremantle in Round 3.

It followed on from another knee injury and a foot issue plaguing Milera in recent years.

But despite his lack of footy - and the strong performance of Luke Nankervis against the Lions - the Crows look set to include Milera in their Round 1 team to take on the Saints on Sunday.

Wayne Milera has struggled with injury in recent times. Picture: Getty Images

While it was a light session at West Lakes on Tuesday, Milera was in the Crows’ strongest team’s defence when they did some positional work at the end of the session.

Nankervis was in the B team, along with No. 4 draft pick Sid Draper.

New recruit Isaac Cumming said he was confident Milera wouldn’t be hampered by no game-time during the pre-season.

“I’m not sure what the plan is with him but as far as I know he is good to go,” he said.

“He has had an unreal pre-season.”

Key forward Riley Thilthorpe did not take part in that part of the session, after being involved in earlier drills, while key defender Mark Keane joined in after it was originally planned he sit out the final part.

The Irishman is set to be available for selection after he hurt his quad against the Lions, with fellow defender Max Michalanney also expected to be fine after his thumb injury in the internal trial.

Max Michalanney is set to play against St Kilda. Picture: Mark Brake

Crows talisman Taylor Walker said he expected senior coach Matthew Nicks and his fellow coaches to have a few headaches.

“You’d think three or four players might be a chance to make their debut for the club,” he said on his weekly spot on Triple M.

“We’ve got our main session on Thursday so we’ll know more then, but I’d say those boys (Alex Neal-Bullen, Cumming, James Peatling and Draper) would be a good chance to play.

“We did a good review yesterday on how many people have completed pre-season, and the numbers were pretty crazy, and showed that this was the best pre-season we have completed as a group in the past four or five years.

“It’s put us in a great position to launch in 2025, but in saying that, just because you’ve had a healthy pre-season doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a good season. We’re looking forward to it and looking forward to competing against some really good sides this year.”

Originally published as Adelaide Crows selection news: Wayne Milera to play round 1, Sid Draper trains in ‘B team’