Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks expects rival clubs to come harder at trying to lure Reilly O'Brien given the ruckman's return to peak form.
O'Brien falls off-contract at the end of the season and is understood to be at an impasse with the Crows over a fresh deal.
Adelaide is believed to have tabled a two-year contract extension to the durable 29-year-old, who may attract longer, and more lucrative, offers elsewhere.
But Nicks isn't concerned, though he admits interest from rivals will heighten amid the strong form of the ruckman nicknamed Rob.
"Yeah, the form he's in, I think that's an obvious one," Nicks told reporters on Thursday.
"We will keep working through that with Rob.
"It's not something we're focused on at the moment; I'm sure Rob's not focused on it either.
"That's something that will be looked after by others when it comes to the list management side of things.
"But that's the strength he's showing at the moment - he's just head down, focused on footy."
Only Gold Coast stalwart Jarrod Witts (608) has recorded more hit outs this season than O'Brien (582), who won Adelaide's club champion award in 2020 and is a leadership group member.
"Reilly is in great form, I'd say he's playing some of his best footy - back to when he won our b and f (best and fairest)," Nicks said.
O'Brien resumes his personal rivalry with Melbourne captain Max Gawn, arguably the best ruckman in the competition, in Sunday's clash at Adelaide Oval.
"He (O'Brien) has his work cut out for him this weekend," Nicks said.
"I mean, there's none better than Gawn - respectfully to a lot of the ruckmen in the competition.
"When a game is there to be won, Gawny will step up, he's a fantastic leader.
"And Rob loves that challenge.
"Rob has showed this year that he's able to, at worst, nullify his opponents and in the last month or six weeks, he's actually gone even above that.
"We're confident that he'll come in and play pretty hard, he knows the job is going to be a big one."
