Saturday night at Simonds Stadium looms as a test for the Adelaide Crows and a turning point for the Cats.

It’s a chance for Geelong to re-establish their top-four credentials, along with their own premiership aspirations – much in the same way they came of age in a hard fought win at the Adelaide Oval in round eight.

Indeed, that night nine weeks ago was the last time the Crows lost. They have since won eight games in a row and grown in leaps and bounds to become the talk of the footballing world with their high octane, offensive prowess.

"I think we’ve improved in a number of areas and that’s been documented through our performances in recent times, but we’re going to see how far we've come on Saturday night," Crows senior coach Don Pyke said on Wednesday.

The Crows will be further bolstered at the selection table this week too.

Small defenders Rory Laird and Luke Brown trained on Wednesday and will be available for selection having recovered from hip and groin injuries respectively.

Laird has become one of the most improved players in the competition over the past 18 months and is fundamental to Adelaide’s ability to turn defence into attack, whilst Brown is a defender growing in stature against the game’s best small forwards.

It will be hard for Pyke to not include both this week, but even harder for him to omit two senior players on the back of a good win over Collingwood in round 17.

Unfortunately for Paul Seedsman, that may mean a case of last in, first out. The former Magpie was a late replacement for Laird and had 18 disposals and the second most rebound 50s for the Crows with four in his first game at AFL level since round 12.

Nonetheless, with Laird arguably in All-Australian form, even those statistics could prove not enough to save Seedsman.

As for Luke Brown, his inclusion may be dependent on how the Cats line up in their forward half and how the Crows plan to combat it.

Should Adelaide decide to go smaller at Simonds Stadium, Brown could replace Kyle Hartigan – who only registered 8 disposals and three marks against Collingwood and has an extra 13 centimetres on Brown.

Alternatively, if the Crows are happy with their current structure but want to inject Brown then the more likely omission is Kyle Cheney. The former Demon turned Hawk now Crow had just 9 disposals and four marks in defence last week.

Looking elsewhere, the Adelaide midfield often dictates terms with Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson and the Crouch brothers all imposing themselves on the contest.

It’s a relatively settled group and though no changes are expected, the likes of Cameron Ellis-Yolmen (32 disposals, seven marks, seven clearances, five tackles) and Mitch Grigg (28 touches, five inside 50s, three goals) are considered the next cabs off the rank thanks to their consistent SANFL form.

With two potential changes, here is how the Crows are expected to line up against the Cats in round 18:

OUT: P.Seedsman, K.Cheney

IN: R.Laird, L.Brown