Port Adelaide star Jason Horne-Francis faces his former club, North Melbourne, in Melbourne for the first time in the clubs’ first hitouts of 2026.
The Kangaroos will unearth two debutants, Lachy Dovaston and Tom Blamires, as they look to finally make inroads up the ladder in year four under Alastair Clarkson.
It’s meanwhile a new dawn at Port Adelaide under Josh Carr, with recruits Jacob Wehr and Corey Durdin playing their first games for the club as well as mature-aged debutant Jack Watkins, as the club looks to kick off the Carr era with a win in enemy territory.
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And Tigers champ Jack Riewoldt is expecting former Pick 1 Horne-Francis to feel that hostile environment from his former fan base.
“I don’t think there will be anything with the players … but the fans don’t forget,” Riewoldt said pre-game on Fox Footy.
“He was at North Melbourne for one year and it was obviously highly talked about the way he left.
“Five years on he finally gets a chance to front up at Marvel Stadium. But (fans) do not forget.”
This match gets underway at 1.10pm AEDT from Marvel Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504) and Kayo.
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