{"id":786905,"date":"2026-07-08T12:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786905\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:13:11","slug":"afl-teams-round-18-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786905\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Teams Round 18 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney will welcome back star livewire Tom Papley for Thursday night\u2019s top-of-the-table clash against Fremantle, in his first match at the top level since Round 18.<\/p>\n

The boy from Bunyip has been dealing with a calf niggle for a little while now, but has been given the tick of approval by head coach Dean Cox to return to the fold at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n

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? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Papley comes in for Corey Warner, who was solid against the Western Bulldogs last Friday night with 16 disposals and a goal assist.<\/p>\n

As for the Dockers, Justin Longmuir has made two changes \u2014 one of which was forced with Hayden Young\u2019s latest setback with a groin injury. <\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has been replaced by three-club veteran Jaeger O\u2019Meara, while Mason Cox comes in for a managed Sean Darcy.<\/p>\n

It means that after a mammoth game last Friday night against 2023 All-Australian Tim English, the Swans\u2019 Brodie Grundy will face off against Luke Jackson and Cox solo out west, in what could prove his biggest test yet amid another stellar season.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the round\u2019s teams will be revealed at 6:20pm AEST on Thursday evening, with the final 23 for clubs playing on Sunday to be confirmed at 5pm AEST on Friday. <\/p>\n

See the sides for Round 18 below!<\/p>\n

Swans to copy Giants blueprint vs Freo | 02:25<\/p>\n

AFL ROUND 18 TEAMS AND FIXTURE (All times AEST)<\/p>\n

FREMANTLE v SYDNEY SWANS<\/p>\n

Thursday July 9, 8:10pm at Optus Stadium<\/p>\n

DOCKERS<\/p>\n

B: B.Cox, A.Pearce (c), H.Chapman<\/p>\n

HB: J.Clark, L.Ryan, K.Worner<\/p>\n

C: N.Erasmus, A.Brayshaw, J.O\u2019Meara<\/p>\n

HF: M.Reid, J.Treacy, S.Switkowski<\/p>\n

F: P.Voss, J.Amiss, M.Frederick<\/p>\n

R: L.Jackson, C.Serong, S.Bolton<\/p>\n

I\/C: J.McVee, M.Johnson, N.O\u2019Driscoll, I.Dudley, M.Cox<\/p>\n

EMG: O.McDonald, B.Walker, C.Scerri<\/p>\n

In – J.O\u2019Meara, M.Cox<\/p>\n

Out – H.Young (Injured), S.Darcy (Managed)<\/p>\n

SWANS<\/p>\n

B: C.Mills (c), W.Edwards, T.McCartin<\/p>\n

HB: D.Rampe, N.Blakey, H.Cunningham<\/p>\n

C: M.Roberts, E.Gulden, J.Serong<\/p>\n

HF: J.Jordan, H.McLean, J.Rowbottom<\/p>\n

F: T.Papley, C.Curnow, J.Lloyd<\/p>\n

R: B.Grundy, I.Heeney, Ch.Warner<\/p>\n

I\/C: H.Kyle, J.Hamling, T.Hanily, A.Sheldrick, C.Cleary<\/p>\n

EMG: R.Bice, Co.Warner, L.Melican<\/p>\n

In – T.Papley<\/p>\n

Out – Co.Warner<\/p>\n

COLLINGWOOD vs. NORTH MELBOURNE<\/p>\n

Friday July 10, 7:40pm at Marvel Stadium<\/p>\n

MAGPIES<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

KANGAROOS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

ST KILDA vs. PORT ADELAIDE<\/p>\n

Saturday July 11, 1:15pm at Marvel Stadium<\/p>\n

SAINTS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

POWER<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

GWS GIANTS vs. GEELONG CATS<\/p>\n

Saturday July 11, 4:15pm at ENGIE Stadium<\/p>\n

CATS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

GIANTS<\/p>\n

TBC <\/p>\n

CARLTON vs. HAWTHORN<\/p>\n

Saturday July 11, 7:35pm at the MCG<\/p>\n

BLUES<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

HAWKS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

ADELAIDE CROWS vs. GOLD COAST SUNS<\/p>\n

Saturday July 11, 8:10pm at Adelaide Oval<\/p>\n

CROWS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

SUNS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

WESTERN BULLDOGS vs. WEST COAST EAGLES<\/p>\n

Sunday July 12, 1:10pm at Marvel Stadium<\/p>\n

BULLDOGS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

EAGLES<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

MELBOURNE vs. RICHMOND<\/p>\n

Sunday July 12, 3:15pm at the MCG<\/p>\n

DEMONS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

TIGERS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

BRISBANE LIONS vs. ESSENDON<\/p>\n

Sunday July 12, 4:40pm at the Gabba<\/p>\n

LIONS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n

BOMBERS<\/p>\n

TBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney will welcome back star livewire Tom Papley for Thursday night\u2019s top-of-the-table clash against Fremantle, in his first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-786905","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\/786905","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=786905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}