IN A rare showing of support for next week's Hall of Fame game compared with the old state-of-origin days, Adelaide coach Neil Craig said full-back Ben Rutten would almost certainly be available despite not playing against North Melbourne tonight.

It would be easy for the Crows to say next week that Rutten was still unavailable because of a bruised buttock, but Craig insisted that his key defender would make every effort to get himself fit — and expected him to play for the Dream Team against Victoria at the MCG next Saturday.

Adelaide's defence was further weakened yesterday when Brad Symes was ruled out because of an ankle injury. He has been replaced by Jarrhan Jacky for only his second AFL game.

Craig said he hoped Rutten would be cleared by medical staff and coach Mark Williams next week because he deserved to get the chance to play in this unique game.

"It's an important game for our sport, and he (Rutten) is really keen to be available," Craig said. "When this concept was put on the table, our club supported it as a one-off, so if you are going to support it, then support it fully.

"Players look forward to a week off, and to the AFL's credit they are still allowing that to happen (round 14, from Friday, June 27 to Sunday, July 13).

"Our players in the squad are really looking forward to the game, and so they should." Not surprisingly, coach Williams held the same view about wanting to have his players available for the Dream Team.

"If our players are up and ready and wanting to play, then I'll be playing them, and everything points to probably five or six outside the ones that have been selected that want to play as well," Williams said.

"So there's real excitement about it and it's really difficult to try to decide the best way to go. It's just going to be a great game."

Looking at tonight's game, North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley said the loss of Rutten was significant for Adelaide, but said he believed teams were able to handle player losses better than ever.

"The game has probably evolved," Laidley said. "They (Adelaide) are a good side; they have a great defence and we need to be able to get the ball in there enough times in the right manner to score."

Laidley said no one would know whether last Sunday's gruelling draw against Sydney would take something out of his side tonight. "We'll know at 10.30, won't we?" he said. "I prefer our group to have six-day breaks than seven or eight. They get themselves up very quickly; short, sharp weeks and back into it, so I am looking forward to this game."

Adelaide will blood young forward James Sellar, whom Craig believes will add a different dimension to his forward line.