GEELONG'S stars return en masse, Brett Burton might be cleared for take-off, Heath Scotland is back but Nick Stevens isn't and Josh Fraser, Tyson Edwards and Dean Cox are the big injury outs in leading news from Thursday's release of the teams for round 16 of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

Essendon has stuck with a winning formula and will take the same side that defeated the Sydney Swans into Friday night's clash with the Bulldogs.

Hayden Skipworth has recovered from the kneecap injury that kept him out of last week's team, but could not force his way back in and has been named on the emergency list with Nathan Lovett-Murray and Bachar Houli.

The Western Bulldogs have also named an unchanged side despite going down to the Magpies by a point last Friday night. Dylan Addison, Tim Callan and Brennan Stack are the emergencies.

Scotland is one of three unforced changes for Carlton ahead of Saturday's match against the Sydney Swans with Paul Bower back after a two-week knee injury and Chris Yarran rewarded for his efforts in the VFL.

Out of the side that grafted a win over Richmond go Dennis Armfield, Adam Hartlett and Jeff Garlett.

There's still no room for Stevens, who will spend his third week out of the team, but is an emergency along with Cameron Cloke and Hartlett.

Jarrad McVeigh is back from a shoulder injury for the Sydney Swans, who have also recalled ruckman Jesse White and will hand Dan Hannebery his AFL debut.

Hannebery, 18, was drafted 30th overall at the 2008 NAB AFL Draft and gets his shot at the elite level despite remaining in Melbourne to complete his year 12 studies at Xavier College.

Jared Crouch, Paul Bevan and Luke Ablett have been dropped from the side defeated by the Dons, with Bevan and Ablett joining Kris Thornton on the emergency list.

Geelong continued a tumultuous run at the selection table with six changes for Saturday's home clash with the Demons.

Gary Ablett, Matthew Scarlett, Andrew Mackie, Travis Varcoe, Cameron Ling and Darren Milburn come in to give this side a much different look to the one that was downed by the Lions at the Gabba.

It's not all roses for the Cats, however, with Jimmy Bartel out with a hip injury and Nathan Djerrkura resting a corked thigh. Mark Blake, Ryan Gamble, Jeremy Laidler and Tom Gillies have all paid the price for Geelong's second loss of the season with demotion to the VFL.

Melbourne has made one forced change to the team that notched a win over Port Adelaide with Clint Bartram in for Daniel Bell, who will miss the rest of the season with an AC joint injury. Paul Johnson, Jamie Bennell and Brad Miller are the emergencies.

Fraser's loss to a knee injury is a huge blow to Collingwood, which has relied heavily on the 27-year-old to carry the bulk of the ruck duties this season.

Cameron Wood gets his chance to shine after being named to replace Fraser, while Nathan Brown returns in place of the omitted Sharrod Wellingham, who is an emergency with Ryan Cook and Chris Dawes.

Hawthorn loses injured duo Robert Campbell and Rick Ladson for the Pies' clash and brings in Brent Renouf and Ryan Schoenmakers to cover. Cameron Stokes, Travis Tuck and Brendan Whitecross are the emergencies.

Mark Harvey has resisted the urge to swing the axe at Fremantle despite a 117-point thrashing at the hands of the Crows.

Clayton Hinkley and Ryan Murphy, the side's only goal kicker last week, have been dropped back to the emergency list while Byron Schammer is out with a calf injury.

Coming in for that trio are Andrew Foster, Clancee Pearce and Adam Campbell.

The Brisbane Lions have made two changes ahead of the clash against Freo in Perth, with Jared Brennan and Bradd Dalziell earning recalls.

The pair replaces Jed Adcock (knee) and Matt Austin (omitted) while Jason Roe, James Hawksley and Pearce Hanley make up the emergency list.

Josh Carr and Peter Burgoyne are the high-profile casualties from the Port Adelaide side defeated by the Dees last week.

Travis Boak is straight into the starting 18 while Matthew Broadbent, Nick Lower, Matt Thomas and Nick Salter come onto an expanded bench.

West Coast lead ruckman Dean Cox has again succumbed to a nagging groin injury and is a big loss from the side that fell to the Saints.

Forgotten ruckman Mark Seaby comes in for just his fourth game of the season while Nic Naitanui, Ryan Davis and Tim Houlihan are on a seven-man bench.

Richmond hosts the Kangaroos on Sunday and brings Mark Coughlan, Jordan McMahon, Adam Pattison and Jarrod Silvester onto an extended bench.

Kel Moore is out of the MCG clash with a calf strain.

North Melbourne has named four inclusions on the bench for the clash of the interim coaches.

Ben Ross, Daniel Pratt, Aaron Edwards and Leigh Adams must wait for Friday's final selection to see if they'll play while Gavin Urquhart is out with a groin injury.

St Kilda has dropped Ben McEvoy ahead of the twilight clash against the Crows and named David Armitage, James Gwilt, Steven King and Adam Schneider on a seven-man bench.

High-flying Adelaide forward Brett Burton could play his first AFL game back from a knee reconstruction after being named on an extended bench for the Crows.

The 'Birdman' hasn't played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in round 15 of last season and has been named on the bench with fellow inclusions Richard Douglas, Brodie Martin and Phil Davis, with the latter pair to debut if they make Sunday's final team.

Edwards has been in superb form for the Crows despite being in the twilight of his career, but will not be risked after reporting hamstring soreness.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.