{"id":563684,"date":"2026-03-25T16:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/563684\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:27:13","slug":"afl-teams-round-3-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/563684\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Teams Round 3 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Geelong has dropped a premiership star while Adelaide loses four key players for the Round 3 opener between last year\u2019s top two home and away sides.<\/p>\n<p>The Cats have omitted forward Brad Close, with the oft-sleeved star failing to hit the scoreboard and averaging just six disposals in two games this season.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/afl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" title=\"kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the first game Close has missed since 2023 after an interrupted training schedule, and he will instead play managed minutes in the VFL as they attempt to get him back to his best.<\/p>\n<p>They also lose captain Patrick Dangerfield after the future Hall of Famer reaggravated a calf injury, which could also see him miss Easter Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Ollie Henry comes back into the Cats\u2019 forward line after kicking five goals in the VFL, while Oli Wiltshire also returns with James Worpel still unavailable with his infected finger.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Adelaide is decimated off a second straight six-day break, with Rory Laird (calf), Jordan Dawson (calf) and Cal Ah Chee (hamstring) all missing through injury and Tex Walker managed.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by Foxfooty.com.au earlier this week Luke Nankervis will take Ah Chee\u2019s spot on the wing while Hugh Bond, Zac Taylor and club debutant Finnbar Maley have also gotten the call-up.<\/p>\n<p>McRae states Daicos bros happy at Pies | 01:33<\/p>\n<p>In other news, both Collingwood and GWS will unveil debutants for Friday night\u2019s much-anticipated clash at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The Magpies will hand a first game to ruckman Oscar Steene while the Giants are set to name their 2024 first-round pick, mid-forward Ollie Hannaford, after his first year on an AFL list was ruined by injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the Round 3 teams will be announced Thursday 6:20pm.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/afl-2026-round-3-team-tips-predicted-sides-and-squads-ins-and-outs-team-changes-injuries-latest-team-news\/news-story\/76b12ad2bd5c8d4f11b636d7c8ae9130\" title=\"www.foxsports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For intel on the teams yet to announce their squads, check out Team Tips<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ROUND 3 TEAMS AND FIXTURE (All times AEDT)<\/p>\n<p>GEELONG v ADELAIDE CROWS<\/p>\n<p>Thursday March 26 at GMHBA Stadium, 7:30pm<\/p>\n<p>CATS<\/p>\n<p>B: C.O\u2019Sullivan, S.De Koning, J.Henry<\/p>\n<p>HB: Z.Guthrie, T.Stewart &#8211; C, L.Humphries<\/p>\n<p>C: M.Blicavs, B.Smith, M.O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n<p>HF: G.Miers, S.Mannagh, O.Dempsey<\/p>\n<p>F: J.Cameron, S.Neale, J.Martin<\/p>\n<p>FOLL: M.Edwards, T.Atkins, M.Holmes<\/p>\n<p>I\/C: O.Mullin, J.Clark, T.Bruhn, O.Wiltshire, O.Henry<\/p>\n<p>EMG: J.Bowes, J.Worpel, M.Knevitt<\/p>\n<p>In: &#8211; O.Wiltshire, O.Henry<\/p>\n<p>Out: &#8211; B.Close (Omitted), P.Dangerfield (Injured)<\/p>\n<p>CROWS<\/p>\n<p>B: N.Murray, J.Butts, C.Jones<\/p>\n<p>HB: H.Bond, J.Worrell, W.Milera<\/p>\n<p>C: B.Cook, J.Peatling, I.Cumming<\/p>\n<p>HF: I.Rankine, A.Neal-Bullen &#8211; C, B.Keays<\/p>\n<p>F: Z.Taylor, R.Thilthorpe, D.Fogarty<\/p>\n<p>FOLL: L.McAndrew, S.Berry, J.Rachele<\/p>\n<p>I\/C: L.Nankervis, F.Maley, L.Pedlar, J.Soligo, M.Michalanney<\/p>\n<p>EMG: C.Edwards, R.O\u2019Brien, J.Borlase<\/p>\n<p>In: &#8211; H.Bond, Z.Taylor, L.Nankervis, F.Maley<\/p>\n<p>Out: &#8211; R.Laird (Injured), J.Dawson (Injured), T.Walker (Managed), C.Ah Chee (Injured)<\/p>\n<p>COLLINGWOOD v GWS GIANTS<\/p>\n<p>Friday March 27 at Marvel Stadium, 7:40pm<\/p>\n<p>MAGPIES<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>GIANTS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>ST KILDA v BRISBANE LIONS<\/p>\n<p>Saturday March 27 at Marvel Stadium, 12:35pm<\/p>\n<p>SAINTS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>LIONS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>FREMANTLE v RICHMOND<\/p>\n<p>Saturday March 27 at Optus Stadium, 4:15pm<\/p>\n<p>DOCKERS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>TIGERS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>ESSENDON v NORTH MELBOURNE<\/p>\n<p>Saturday March 27 at Marvel Stadium, 7:35pm<\/p>\n<p>BOMBERS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>KANGAROOS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>PORT ADELAIDE v WEST COAST EAGLES<\/p>\n<p>Sunday March 28 at Adelaide Oval, 12:30pm<\/p>\n<p>POWER<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>EAGLES<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>CARLTON v MELBOURNE<\/p>\n<p>Sunday March 28 at the MCG, 3:15pm<\/p>\n<p>BLUES<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>DEMONS<\/p>\n<p>TBA Thursday evening<\/p>\n<p>Bye week: Gold Coast Suns, Hawthorn, Sydney Swans, Western Bulldogs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geelong has dropped a premiership star while Adelaide loses four key players for the Round 3 opener between&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-563684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}