Adelaide Crows youngster Luke Nankervis hospitalised at 12am with rare injury: ‘Help me’

Adelaide Crows youngster Luke Nankervis is in the mix for a return for Sunday’s trip to the MCG fresh off a late-night trip to hospital for a rare and unusual injury.

The 22-year-old was named in the squad on Thursday alongside returning captain Jordan Dawson, Nick Murray, Finnbar Maley and Billy Dowling.

But it has now been revealed — via teammate and housemate Josh Rachele — that Nankervis seemingly needed medical attention during the week.

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“pov: your friend gets locked jaw at 12am #emergency #hospital #helpme,” Rachele wrote.

The clip showed Nankervis laughing while seemingly resigned to his fate until he could be seen by doctors.

The video was posted earlier this week, with Nankervis seemingly suffering no ill effects ahead of this weekend’s clash with Richmond.

He has played three games so far this season after seven last year.

Meanwhile, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said they expect to feed off Dawson’s energy with the skipper back in the team.

The 29-year-old has missed two of Adelaide’s last three matches following the death of his brother Jaryd.

“He’s an energy for our group,” Nicks said on Thursday.

“Our group love having him around, he’s been here all week and I know he’s really keen to play.

“We’ll train today and make sure that everything runs smoothly, but we expect him to play this weekend.”

Dawson missed the Crows’ one-point win over St Kilda, returned for a 52-point loss to Brisbane, then missed the one-point victory over arch-rivals Port Adelaide.

“It was interesting watching ‘Daws’ when we played in Brisbane and the different emotions that he went through,” Nicks said.

“Running out on the ground there was a real smile on his face and he was back to what he loves doing amongst his teammates and playing footy, and he performed so well in that game.

“But (then there is) the emotion post-game when the reality kicks in of that he has gone through and the loss that he’s experienced.”

Adelaide are also rallying around Mark Keane, who has returned home to Ireland to be with his family following the death of his brother Vinny after battling a terminal illness.

Adelaide are hoping to bounce off the energy provided by returning skipper Jordan Dawson. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP

After a straight-sets finals exit as minor premiers last year, Adelaide have endured a slow start to 2026.

But they have steadied the ship with wins in three of their last four outings and are building confidence ahead of games against Richmond, North Melbourne (home) and Hawthorn (away) before a mid-season bye.

“It’s not stand-out at this point, but internally we feel quite optimistic about where our game’s getting to,” Nicks said.

“We’re starting to see a little bit more of the shape that we’re after and a little bit more of that cohesion that we built to last year.

“If you look at this time last year, we were humming along maybe too early, so you learn a bit from different seasons.”

Adelaide have only two home-and-away fixtures at the MCG this season and are eager to leave another mark at the grand final venue, where they beat Collingwood by 14 points in Round 1

“These games are a great preparation for us, to go down and challenge ourselves to perform on the ground,” Nicks said.

“We actually enjoy playing down there.”

– with AAP