Milera comes in for the injured David Mackay, sidelined for up to a month with a hamstring strain, for a game whose buildup has been dominated – both here and in Melbourne – by the return of the Crows’ reigning club champion.

The Crows’ strong form this season has led to pundits suggesting Dangerfield’s exit was a boon for both Adelaide and Geelong – who are flying high with six wins from seven starts.

Wayne Milera. Photo: Michael Errey, InDaily.

But in truth, of the three players the Crows brought in directly or indirectly through the trade – young midfielder Dean Gore from the Cats, talented forward Troy Menzel from Carlton and Milera via the draft – only the latter has played a senior game thus far.

And the Number 11 pick gets the chance to prove his wares in a game whose frenzied anticipation has resembled a home-ground final – particularly with the Crows desperate for a win to retain their top eight berth, with three narrow losses belying their tag as top four contenders.

The narrative has been so keenly written, even Cats coach Chris Scott concedes “we don’t really have an interest in shying away from it”.

But Dangerfield’s former teammate and captain Taylor Walker did his best to play the grudge match down with a brace of mixed metaphors, noting that “the sun comes up the next day and there’s a lot of water under the bridge since he’s left”.

“You see a lot of players moving clubs now, the way the AFL is,” he told AFL360 last night.

“You’ve got to get on with playing footy [but] our supporters will let him know.”

But that prospect hardly seems to faze Dangerfield himself, who faced Adelaide media yesterday amid a chorus of heckling orchestrated by local radio station Triple M, saying: “I’ll control what I can control.”

“I can’t worry about fan reception or anything like that,” he said.

“As an outsider now, I’m looking forward to playing against [Adelaide].”

For 154 games, Dangerfield dazzled for the Crows, but he insists there is no sentimentality to his return.

“As soon as I arrived at the Geelong footy club, signed the contract … that’s where I was and (Geelong’s) where I’m at now,” he said.

“I don’t see this week being any different to previous weeks.

“Once the game starts you focus on the current contest or the next contest… if you look too far ahead or anything external it can sway your focus.

“We’ll control what we can control and hopefully play our brand of footy which we know wins games.”

Geelong made two changes for the encounter, calling Jed Bews and Cory Gregson to replace injured duo Lincoln McCarthy (ankle) and Nakia Cockatoo (knee).

A little bit of fun during Patrick Dangerfield's media conference in #Adelaide. @9NewsAdel #9newscomau pic.twitter.com/mQGDfWtIes

— Edward Godfrey (@EdwardGodfrey9) May 12, 2016

Port Adelaide is likely to go unchanged into Sunday’s clash with Carlton, but have brought in Karl Amon, Dougal Howard and Sam Gray – but not Robbie, who is still a week away from resuming – on an extended bench.

Fremantle have dumped two veterans and rested Matthew Pavlich for Saturday’s daunting AFL away trip to meet a Hawthorn without Cyril Rioli.

Rioli will miss the Launceston clash because of a family illness while Freo have axed Michael Barlow and Zac Dawson, with Pavlich spelled from the trip.

The winless Dockers have summoned Clancee Pearce, Zac Clarke and Ed Langdon while Hawthorn are bolstered by the returns of Sam Mitchell and James Frawley.

The unbeaten Kangaroos rested evergreen backman Michael Firrito for their match against Essendon.

The Roos also lost Daniel Wells to a thigh injury and Shaun Higgins to a three-month knee injury, recalling Lindsay Thomas, Brad McKenzie and Majak Daw.

The Bombers swung four changes: Courtney Dempsey, Josh Simpkon and Shaun McKernan were unavailable due to injury while James Gwilt was rested, with young gun Darcy Parish among the inclusions.

Struggling Gold Coast made half-a-dozen changes for their away match against Greater Western Sydney.

The Suns, on a four-game losing streak, lost four to injury: Daniel Currie (hip), Alex Sexton (arm), Clay Cameron (knee) and Matt Rosa (hamstring) and dropped Henry Schade and Jarrod Garlett.

The Giants suffered two big losses with co-captain Phil Davis (hamstring) and Toby Greene (soreness) unavailable, calling on Tim Mohr and Jacob Hopper.

Collingwood made three changes for their Saturday night away date with Brisbane, with Ben Sinclair, Travis Varcoe and Taylor Adams replacing James Aish (omitted), Tim Broomhead (ankle) and Ben Reid (shoulder).

The Lions, with captain Tom Rockliff out because of a hamstring strain, named Daniel Merrett and Lewis Taylor.

Richmond welcomed back defenders Dylan Grimes and Alex Rance for Saturday night’s clash with Sydney, who summoned Ted Richards and Dean Towers in the absence of Ben McGlynn (leg) and Daniel Robinson (shoulder).

West Coast have dumped underperforming recruit Lewis Jetta for Sunday’s home clash with St Kilda.

-with AAP