Adelaide star Rory Laird will miss at least the opening month of the season due to a broken hand.
Laird suffered the injury in the Crows AAMI Community Series match against Port Adelaide. He was withdrawn from the game in the third quarter.
As it stands the club is remaining hopeful that Laird won't require surgery with High Performance Manager Darren Burgess hopeful a splint will do the trick for the midfielder.
“Rory had X-rays on Sunday which confirmed our preliminary thoughts post-game that he had fractured his hand,” Burgess said in a statement.
“At this stage we don’t believe it will require surgery however he will meet a hand specialist this week for further assessment.
“It’s unfortunate timing given there are two weeks until Round One but the injury is not expected to hinder his ability to run and stay fit and we will look forward to him returning in the early part of the season.”
The 2021 Adelaide Best and Fairest winner made the move to the midfield last year and averaged 26 disposals.
His absence will see him miss games against Fremantle, Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Essendon if he's back by Round 5. The Crows then face Richmond at home before travelling to Ballarat to take on the Bulldogs.