St Kilda veteran Jack Macrae will remain on the outer for a second-straight week after the Saints decided for an unchanged side to face Port Adelaide.
Macrae was managed ahead of St Kilda’s clash with Essendon, but a resounding victory has Ross Lyon backing in his 23.
It means Macrae, who is not listed as an emergency, will likely line up for the VFL side against Werribee.
The 31 year old departed the Western Bulldogs at the end of 2024 after a stint for Footscray and a run as the substitute left him seeking greener pastures.
But a strong performance in St Kilda’s midfield from Mattaes Phillipou has Macrae without a place in the senior side.
Kane Farrell returns to the Power’s side to take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Farrell has missed the past month because of a groin concern but has trained fully over the past fortnight and has proven his fitness for a comeback.
He comes into the side at the expense of Brandon Zerk-Thatcher with the key defender dropped after two games in the side.
It means the Power will go smaller in defence against the Saints with Miles Bergman and Lachie Jones set to be tasked with playing taller.
Meanwhile Collingwood has recalled games record holder Scott Pendlebury to face North Melbourne on Friday night.
Pendlebury was a late withdrawal last week with a calf complaint, but he comes into the side as forecasted by coach Craig McRae.
Harvey Harrison makes way for the legendary Magpie.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has swung the axe, making four changes for the Friday night game.
George Wardlaw will miss a month of footy after a hamstring injury, but Wil Dawson, Josh Goater and Jacob Konstanty are unforced changes.
Riley Hardeman and Paul Curtis loom as big inclusions, while Zac Banch and Matt Whitlock have been recalled.
Adelaide has “managed” mid-season draftee Hugo Hall-Kahan despite an impressive start to his career as a Crow, as two stars return to the side to take on Gold Coast.
The 22-year-old has played every game for the Crows since he made his debut just days after he was selected in the mid-season draft in May.
But despite looking at home in the Crows senior side, and having 18 disposals in their last outing against West Coast, Hall-Kahan has made way along with Billy Dowling for stars Wayne Milera and Riley Thilthorpe.
Crows assistant coach Scott Burns said on FIVEAA that it was about managing Hall-Kahan given the rigours of AFL footy.
It’s such a hard competition where some boys do need a little bit of a freshen up at times,” he said.
“Just to make sure that they’re up and going in the last month of the season.”
Milera comes back into the side after missing the last two matches with a minor hamstring strain, while Thilthorpe was a late out for the win over West Coast because of illness.
Hawthorn will unveil its seventh debutant of the season with big-bodied midfielder Ollie Greeves set to take on Carlton at the MCG on Saturday night.
However, superstar forward Nick Watson ruled out for a second straight week.
Greeves, 19, has been selected for the Hawks’ senior side following some strong VFL performances this year, averaging 21 disposals from his 13 games with Box Hill, including a 34-possession game against Gold Coast last month.
Incredibly, Hawthorn did not have an AFL debutant last season – the first time in the club’s history.
Greeves’ inclusion against the Blues means he joins Noah Mraz, Matt Hill, Will McCabe, Jack Dalton, Bodie Ryan and Cameron Nairn as debutants this season.
Mraz and Hill made impressive debuts in last week’s loss to Melbourne, and the Hawks are confident Greeves will follow suit.
Surprisingly, he was one of the draft’s biggest sliders last year, missing out in the national draft after originally being touted as a possible first-rounder.
But the Hawks were delighted to take the Eastern Ranges/Vermont mid-forward with pick 12 in last year’s rookie draft, and he has impressed the coaches with his work ethic and willingness to learn since walking into the club.
Box Hill Hawks coach David Mirra said of Greeves’ game last week: “He was great playing as an inside mid and he was very good at winning the ball and taking territory from stoppage.
“He also went forward in the last quarter and looked really dangerous when isolated one versus one.”
He is the great nephew of Geelong great ‘Carji’ Greeves, the winner of the first Brownlow Medal.
It comes as coach Sam Mitchell revealed midfielder Conor Nash could miss the rest of the season with his “complicated” neck issue.
Nash recently saw a Sydney surgeon to better understand the nerve issue that has weakened the strength and power in one arm.
Watson had been hoping to return from the hamstring issue that kept him out of last week’s loss to Melbourne, but the Hawks won’t take the risk on him, despite a strong running session on Tuesday.
He ran laps on Thursday while the main Hawks group trained at the Kennedy Community Centre.
“Unfortunately, Nick won’t play this week. He ran on Tuesday at 88 per cent of his top speed, which is still faster than most of us,” Mitchell said.
“But just from a confidence point of view, we don’t feel like it is worth the risk with it. He will miss one more and then he will be available for next week.”
The livewire earlier this week had declared he was hoping to play as his hamstring improved.
“It’s a lot better,” Watson told Code Sports on Wednesday.
“As the game went on, it kept getting tighter and tighter and then that effort I felt it getting really tight and so I pulled up.
“I was better off doing that and then sat in the square for a bit … I tried to get back out there, but the docs didn’t let me. It was better off for the long run anyway.”
Mitchell is confident that the Hawks can bounce back from their uncharacteristic first-half flogging by Melbourne last week.
Jarman Impey and Karl Amon got through training and will return, while Dalton suffered a MCL sprain at training on Thursday and will spend some time on the sidelines.
Josh Battle won’t play after undergoing surgery late last week to remove his appendix, with Mitchell saying his teammates had been joking he was battling “man flu”.
Nash hasn’t played since round 11 with an injury that has perplexed the Hawks, but Mitchell is hopeful the club has more clarity around it now, saying it was a matter if when, not if, he returned.
“He has got some sort of disc issue in his neck which has caused him to lose some strength in his arms, which is quite unusual,” Mitchell said.
“We’ve gone to some experts in Sydney through the week and got some further treatment.
“He definitely won’t play for a month. Once we find out, ‘OK, there is some improvement, which according to his treatment, could start as early as this week, which means he would be a month away.
“We have no timeline. Realistically he could miss the rest of this season, so I definitely hope that doesn’t happen.
“He is very frustrated but I feel like there is a level of understanding of what is happening now and we have got to the bottom of where his lack of power and strength is coming from.”
CROWS CAUTIOUS ON LIVEWIRES UP FORWARD
– Matt Turner
Adelaide will give Callum Ah Chee and Luke Pedlar more time before they are recalled to AFL level from hamstring injuries.
The Crows are taking a cautious approach with the duo ahead of Saturday night’s home game against Gold Coast, but they are in line to return via the SANFL this week.
Defender Wayne Milera (hamstring) and key forward Riley Thilthorpe (illness) are poised to face the Suns after missing three matches and one respectively.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said the club was not locked into a plan for Ah Chee’s comeback.
The dual Brisbane premiership player has featured in just four games as a Crow, suffering four hamstring strains.
He has missed the past four matches with his latest injury.
“We’ll keep liasing with him around his body and how he’s feeling, and keep listening to our (high-performance) experts,” Nicks said.
“We’re not going to throw him into the deep end.
“We know how important he is to us and we want him there at the business end of the season.”
Adelaide was also mindful of Pedlar’s injury history, which had limited the forward to 49 games since being drafted in 2020.
Nicks was looking forward to Milera being available, saying he should be in All-Australian discussions.
The coach conceded the team probably should have brought wingman Isaac Cumming back via the SANFL before selecting him for the Showdown.
Cumming was quiet in the loss to the Power then dropped last week.
“He’s had that hit-out and we’ll make a decision going into this game,” Nicks said.
Originally published as Round 18 teams: Ollie Greeves to debut for Hawks, Nick Watson ruled out of Blues clash