A big-name Swan is in the frame to make his long-awaited return, while there’s selection intrigue at Brisbane and Hawthorn.

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AFL FINALS WEEK 4 FIXTURE (all times AEST)

Second Preliminary Final

SYDNEY SWANS v FREMANTLE

Friday September 18, 5:15pm at the MCG

Swans’ qualifying final side

B: C.Mills – C, T.McCartin, D.Rampe

HB: S.Wicks, H.Kyle, J.Hamling

C: M.Roberts, E.Gulden, J.Serong

HF: J.Lloyd, L.McDonald, B.Campbell

F: T.Papley, C.Curnow, B.Cootee

FOLL: B.Grundy, J.Rowbottom, C.Cleary

I/C: H.Cunningham, A.Sheldrick, H.McLean, T.Hanily, J.Dattoli

EMG: W.Green, J.Amartey, L.Melican

Team Tips: While they’re missing several big-name stars, the Swans could welcome one back in Justin McInerney for the club’s preliminary final clash with Fremantle. The hard-runner will test this week in a bid to play against Fremantle, with Sydney having sorely missed his line-breaking ability. He could well be the man to replace injured captain Callum Mills, who ruptured his ACL in the qualifying final. There’s also intrigue over the status of key forward Joel Amartey, who was an emergency for the qualifying final and is nearing fitness after his Achilles injury. But his replacement, Hayden McLean, has covered admirably, kicking 3.1 in the thumping win over Brisbane a fortnight ago.

Freo fire back at home in finals charge | 02:58

Dockers’ semi-final side

B: J.Clark, A.Pearce – C, O.McDonald

HB: K.Worner, L.Ryan, H.Chapman

C: M.Johnson, A.Brayshaw, M.Frederick

HF: I.Dudley, M.Reid, S.Switkowski

F: J.Amiss, J.Treacy, P.Voss

FOLL: L.Jackson, C.Serong, S.Bolton

I/C: M.Cox, C.Wagner, N.Erasmus, H.Young, J.McVee

EMG: H.Davies, C.Scerri, N.O’Driscoll

Team Tips: Coming off a semi-final win over Geelong, where his side looked much more like the one we’ve become accustomed to seeing this year, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir likely won’t want to change much about his unit ahead of this weekend. But provided there are no setbacks, the Dockers will likely have key defender Brennan Cox (calf) back fit, leaving the coach with a tough decision to make. Oscar McDonald looms as the obvious man to make way if Longmuir doesn’t want to go in with an extra tall, but the Dockers will have to contend with Charlie Curnow, Logan McDonald and one of Hayden McLean and Joel Amartey. Meanwhile, Nathan O’Driscoll was left out of the semi-final side in favour of Corey Wagner, and while the latter wasn’t always clean with the footy against the Cats, he may be retained to play a lockdown role in the back half. Brandon Walker (ankle) could be available after missing training last week. Elsewhere, Sean Darcy remains an option in the second-ruck conversation, but it’s hard to envisage Longmuir swinging the axe on Mason Cox at this point.

NFL referee uses AFL goal signal! | 00:23

First Preliminary Final

HAWTHORN v BRISBANE LIONS

Saturday September 19, 7:40pm at the SCG

Hawks’ qualifying final side

B: J.Sicily (c), T.Barrass, B.Hardwick

HB: J.Weddle, B.Macdonald, J.Battle

C: J.Impey, W.Day, M.D’Ambrosio

HF: D.Moore, M.Chol, C.Macdonald

F: N.Watson, M.Lewis, J.Gunston

FOLL: L.Meek, J.Newcombe, C.Mackenzie

INT: K.Amon, H.Morrison, J.Ward, J.Ginnivan, M.Beattie

EMG: M.Ramsden, N.Mraz, J.Dalton

Team Tips: There’ll be a selection watch on whether Sam Mitchell’s head was turned by the array of AFL-listed performances in the weekend’s VFL preliminary final win. Because as the Hawks don’t have any big names returning from injury this September, the only chance of an inclusion for this Saturday is from the reserves. And a host of fringe Hawks put their names forward for selection when Box Hill held off Essendon to earn a VFL grand final berth. In defence, youngster Noah Mraz took 12 marks, had 24 disposals and notched 11 intercepts in an eye-catching performance. He was an emergency for the club’s qualifying final win over Fremantle, but this is a bloody hard backline to break into. Meanwhile, Jack Scrimshaw, who hasn’t played at AFL level since Round 8, kicked a goal from 23 disposals and seven marks, and out-of-favour forward Calsher Dear kicked 3.2 from 15 possessions and eight marks. Jack Dalton, another of the emergencies for the Dockers fixture, had 20 disposals and took nine marks. But ultimately, after knocking off the minor premiers last time out, any unforced change would be surprising.

“We needed a statement” Chris Fagan | 06:43

Lions’ semi-final side

B: T.Gallop, H.Andrews – C, R.Lester

HB: D.Wilmot, D.Gardiner, D.Zorko

C: J.Berry, W.Ashcroft, Z.Bailey

HF: C.Cameron, L.Morris, O.Allen

F: E.Hipwood, C.Rayner, K.Lohmann

FOLL: D.Fort, J.Dunkley, L.Neale

I/C: S.Draper, J.Fletcher, H.McCluggage, L.Ashcroft, C.McKenna

EMG: L.McCarthy, C.Curtin, B.Reville

Team Tips: There’s some selection intrigue at the Lions following their semi-final triumph over Adelaide. After missing the weekend’s win, valuable defender Noah Answerth is battling to get fit to play Hawthorn. But senior coach Chris Fagan didn’t paint a picture of confidence on Monday, telling SEN: “I’m not sure that Noah’s fit. He wasn’t able to run last week, so we’ll see how he goes this week. That’s one that we’ll know more about as the week goes on.” If fit, Answerth would likely have an important role to play on Nick Watson, having done the job before, and his prospective inclusion could come at the expense of Ty Gallop. If it played out that way, it’d be the second time this finals series that the young swingman has been left out; such is the quality of Fagan’s defending premiers. Alternatively, Gallop’s strong defensive play could be rewarded at selection by Fagan, whose match committee could instead potentially leave veteran Darcy Gardiner out. Meanwhile, there’ll be a watch on the health of Logan Morris (ankle) throughout this week, even though Fagan said on Monday that taking him off the ground was precautionary.