The back soreness that has plagued Riley Thilthorpe this AFL season will force the All-Australian key forward to miss Saturday's home game against North Melbourne.

Thilthorpe had only kicked 14 goals in nine games and sprayed 1.3 last Sunday in the win over Richmond.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks had confirmed mid-week that Thilthorpe had been carrying a lower-back injury and the club announced on Friday that he would not play against the Kangaroos.

"Riley has worked his way through some physical challenges this year, the lower back has troubled him," Nicks said.

"But there's a combination: our delivery at the moment and our overall game plan isn't consistent.

"We all know ... this guy is a beast. When are we going to see it? Well, let's do what we can to help him as a team."

While fellow forward Darcy Fogarty will return from his own back injury against the Kangaroos, Taylor Walker remains sidelined.

It appears Nick Murray will be the late replacement for Thilthorpe.

The Crows will start favourites, though their form this season has been inconsistent.

Nicks never quite confirmed post-game whether he blasted the players at halftime of the Richmond match.

After trailling by 10 points at the main break, they blitzed the undermanned Tigers in the third term. But their stop-start form will buoy the Kangaroos, who are on the hunt for a big scalp.

'They brought the heat and we didn't stand up to it as well as we wanted," Crows onballer Sam Berry said of their start against the Tigers.

"They were tougher than us in that first half and so I guess going into the second half, that was a big focus - just to be stronger, as a group."

Captain Jordan Dawson went into the middle for the start of the third term and was Adelaide's fire starter, with Izak Rankine and Wayne Milera also leading the game-winning blitz.

"He has a unique ability to influence games like that. That was probably him saying 'come with me, boys' - and we did," Berry said of Dawson.

"He really started it, that third quarter, but that ... was us - playing front-half footy, winning the contests, we won tackles by 13 for the quarter.

"It wasn't all that pretty, but it's four points. We say you'd rather take the lessons from the wins, than the losses.

"There's still a little bit to build on, but momentum is starting to roll a bit."

Berry is looking forward to taking on the North midfield, and particularly Luke Davies-Uniacke.

"Their midfield is strong. It's going to be a great test," Berry said.

"I have a lot of respect for the way LDU plays - the way he drives his legs, his power, I love the way he goes about it."

"It's always good to go up against him. He's a super talent."