No talk of replacing skipper yet

Could Patrick Dangerfield, right, take over at the Crows stand-in captain while Nathan van Berlo is missing? Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: News Limited

ADELAIDE will not discuss a replacement acting-captain for injured skipper Nathan van Berlo until later in the month when senior staff return from leave.

But list and strategy manager David Noble said van Berlo's freak achilles tendon injury would not have an affect on whether he held the captaincy long-term.

MORE: VB'S ACHILLES INJURY A FREAK ACCIDENT

"That (the injury) won't have any impact as far as we sit on where the captaincy goes,'' Noble said.

"We will discuss (the acting captaincy) in the next few weeks but I don't see that it would have any impact at all on the (permanent captaincy) side of things.

"It's not as though he won't be playing or training for the whole year.

"We know that he can't weight bare for three months but if anyone can get himself back in the condition they need to get themselves playing quickly, it's Nathan."

Adelaide Crows are confident captain Nathan van Berlo will return to the field in 2014 after suffering an Achilles injury at training on Monday.

Patrick Dangerfield, long touted as a future skipper at West Lakes, is among the front runners for the acting captaincy.

But, given the club says it is unlikely to change the captain permanently, it could chose to give veterans Scott Thompson or Ben Rutten the role this year.

Club doctor Andrew Potter said on Tuesday van Berlo would aim to resume full training by July and could return to playing by August.

But Dr Potter stressed time frames were "fluid".

North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow has only recently resumed running after suffering soreness when he first attempted to run in November, following his achilles rupture last July.

Noble said the Crows would also hold off discussions about whether to place van Berlo on the long-term injury list until closer to the season.

There is no obvious player warranting elevation to the senior list among the Crows' rookies - James Battersby, Alex Spina, Jack Osborne, Jake Kelly and Charlie Cameron.

Noble said the Crows would also discuss mentoring and coaching options for van Berlo while he was fully sidelined over the next two to three months.

"We'll have a discussion about the roles that we can get him to play while he's in recovery,'' Noble said.

He said van Berlo was in good spirits given the circumstances of the injury.

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