SEAN Darcy has not come up from a calf niggle and will miss Fremantle’s match against Sydney on Friday night.
Noah Balta has overcome a knee injury to join Dion Prestia and Jack Graham in a strengthened Richmond team, while Gold Coast has made six changes following its loss to Brisbane, including resting David Swallow and Brayden Fiorini.
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In other team news ahead of round nine, Jy Simpkin will miss North Melbourne’s match against the Suns in Darwin due to soreness with No.4 pick Zane Duursma dropped, while St Kilda has axed Mattaes Phillipou and the Western Bulldogs have made four changes.
But for the Dockers, it’s bad news with Darcy, leaving Luke Jackson to lead the ruck division, but good news with Sam Switkowski returning from concussion.
Sydney has named Aaron Francis to replace full-back Tom McCartin (concussion), but there’s again no room for veteran Luke Parker.
The strengthened Tigers will face a Bulldogs team that has omitted Buku Khamis and Oskar Baker, but Alex Keath and Rhylee West are among its changes for Saturday night’s match at the MCG.
Damien Hardwick has not mucked around for Gold Coast’s match against the Kangaroos, resting Swallow and Fiorini, while dropping youngsters Ethan Read and Will Graham.
Northern Territory products Joel Jeffrey and Lloyd Johnston are among the players recalled to face the Kangaroos.
Geelong has continued its policy of managing players, resting Jack Bowes and Zach Tuohy for Friday night’s game against a Port Adelaide outfit that has recalled Jeremy Finlayson, as flagged by coach Ken Hinkley earlier on Thursday.
Phillipou‘s omission comes as Liam Henry returns for his first game since straining a hamstring in round two.
St Kilda’s opponent, Hawthorn, has named Luke Breust for his first game since Easter Monday.
Stephen Coniglio is back for Greater Western Sydney after overcoming a knee injury, while Essendon has named Nick Hind to replace Xavier Duursma (quad).
As expected, the Giants have named gun midfielder Tom Green despite his injury scare last week.
In Sunday’s games, West Coast has named Andrew Gaff and Jayden Hunt on its extended bench to face Collingwood and confirmed Tyrell Dewar will make his debut, while Brisbane has regained Cal Ah Chee from injury for its trip to Adelaide to play the Crows.
FRIDAY, MAY 10
Geelong v Port Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium, 7.10pm AEST
GEELONG
In: M.O’Connor, B.Parfitt, O.Mullin
Out: Z.Tuohy (managed), J.Bowes (managed), T.Bruhn (shoulder)
R8 sub: Gary Rohan
PORT ADELAIDE
In: A.Aliir, J.Sinn, D.Visentini, F.Evans, J.Finlayson
Out: La.Jones (hamstring), D.Williams (omitted), J.Burgoyne (groin), J.Sweet (illness), C.Rozee (hamstring)
R8 sub: Jackson Mead
Fremantle v Sydney at Optus Stadium, 6.30pm AWST
FREMANTLE
In: S.Switkowski, P.Voss
Out: S.Darcy (calf), C.Simpson (omitted)
R8 sub: Nat Fyfe
SYDNEY
In: A.Francis
Out: T.McCartin (concussion)
R8 sub: Robbie Fox
SATURDAY, MAY 11
Hawthorn v St Kilda at UTAS Stadium, 1.45pm AEST
HAWTHORN
In: L.Breust, S.Mitchell, J.Serong
Out: J.Sicily (shoulder), J.Ward (omitted), H.Morrison (omitted)
R8 sub: Nick Watson
ST KILDA
In: L.Henry, B.Paton
Out: M.Phillipou (omitted), R.Byrnes (omitted)
R8 sub: Ryan Byrnes
Essendon v Greater Western Sydney at Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm AEST
ESSENDON
In: N.Hind
Out: X.Duursma (quad)
R8 sub: Ben Hobbs
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
In: N.Haynes, S.Coniglio, C.Stone
Out: J.Wehr (omitted), C.Brown (suspension), J.Peatling (omitted)
R8 sub: Harvey Thomas
Richmond v Western Bulldogs at the MCG, 7.30pm AEST
RICHMOND
In: N.Balta, D.Prestia, J.Graham
Out: D.Grimes (managed), K.McIntosh (omitted), S.Naismith (omitted)
R8 sub: Kamdyn McIntosh
WESTERN BULLDOGS
In: A.Keath, J.Freijah, R.West, L.Cleary
Out: B.Khamis (omitted), T.Liberatore (concussion), O.Baker (omitted), C.Clarke (omitted)
R8 sub: Oskar Baker
Gold Coast v North Melbourne at TIO Stadium, 7pm ACST
GOLD COAST
In: B.Uwland, A.Sexton, L.Johnston, A.Davies, J.Jeffrey, B.Humphrey
Out: W.Powell (suspension), B.Fiorini (managed), D.Swallow (managed), R.Atkins (omitted), E.Read (omitted), W.Graham (omitted)
R8 sub: Ben Long
NORTH MELBOURNE
In: W.Phillips, C.Lazzaro, H.Greenwood
Out: J.Simpkin (soreness), T.Pink (omitted), Z.Duursma (omitted)
R8 sub: Toby Pink
SUNDAY, MAY 12
Collingwood v West Coast at Marvel Stadium, 1pm AEST
COLLINGWOOD
In: R.McInnes, E.Allan, F.Macrae, J.Bytel, J.Richards, C.Dean
Out: L.Schultz (suspension), B.Mihocek (hamstring), B.McCreery (concussion)
R8 sub: Lachie Sullivan
WEST COAST
In: T.Dewar, A.Gaff, J.Hunt, J.Jones, R.Maric, H.Edwards
Out: E.Yeo (groin), J.Waterman (concussion), N.Long (knee)
R8 sub: Harvey Johnston
Adelaide v Brisbane at Adelaide Oval, 3.30pm ACST
ADELAIDE
In: S.Berry, C.Burgess, L.Murphy
Out: Nil
R8 sub: Brodie Smith
BRISBANE
In: C.Ah Chee, J.Lyons, J.Prior, D.Fort, S.Brain, D.Joyce
Out: D.Gardiner (knee), L.McCarthy (knee), N.Answerth (concussion)
R8 sub: Logan Morris
