Port Adelaide will attempt to keep star player Dan Houston's finals hopes alive after the 2023 All Australian was slapped with a five-match ban for a brutal hit resulting in Crows forward Izak Rankine being stretchered from the ground in Saturday night's showdown.
The Power have elected to appeal the sanction, while it's season over for Rankine as he continues to recover at home.
Via social media on Wednesday, Rankine said he was "feeling much better" and thanked fans for their well wishes.
Houston was rubbed-out for the remainder of the 2024 season at the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night for the third quarter bump which concussed Rankine.
The match review officer graded the incident careless conduct, high contact and severe impact - with direct referral to the tribunal and forecasting a least a month on the sidelines with a game remaining before finals.
Houston, who said he regretted his decision to bump and was sorry for Rankine's injury suffered, elected not to challenge the conduct grading while Port's representation failed to sway the panel into downgrading the charges to a three-week sanction.
Earlier this week, the Crows indicated the extent of the injuries was limited to concussion, with their priorities on the 24-year-old's "health and welfare" and "making sure he's on the mend".
On Tuesday, Adelaide high performance manager Darren Burgess said "Izak is at home recovering, he's still got some minor symptoms, he's in the hands of the doctors here and we'll continue to monitor him".
"He's in the concussion protocols but obviously will miss this weekend," he said.
The Crows finish their season against Sydney at the SCG on Saturday night.
