SAM Darcy and Bailey Dale will both play for the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, beating injury concerns to face two-time premiers Brisbane at the Gabba.
There is mixed news for Geelong's start to the season, with Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield both ruled out for its trip to the Gold Coast. A couple of other big-names have beaten injury to play, though.
In other Opening Round selection news, Finn Callaghan is in for Greater Western Sydney, while Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will have to wait longer for his Suns debut after being left out of their team to face the Cats.
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Darcy has overcome hip and groin soreness that kept him out of both his club’s pre-season matches to take his place against the Lions, with Dale overcoming a knee issue.
Cam Rayner will take his place for the premiers after beating a groin problem.
Although Dangerfield (calf) and Cameron (quad) have not been named in Chris Scott's 23-man team, the Cats did get some good news with Bailey Smith (calf) and Gryan Miers (thumb) both being named.
Christian Petracca will play his first game for the Suns.
Callaghan has beaten a hip issue that dogged him for much of the pre-season and will play alongside club debutant Clayton Oliver against a Hawthorn outfit that has full-back Tom Barrass (back) fit and available.
FRIDAY, MARCH 6
Gold Coast v Geelong at People First Stadium, 7.35pm AEST
GOLD COAST
B: M.Andrew 1 B.Uwland 6 S.Collins 25
HB: J.Noble 2 D.Rioli 17 J.Jeffrey 16
C: L.Weller 14 W.Powell 27 S.Clohesy 33
HF: C.Petracca 3 B.Humphrey 19 W.Graham 26
F: E.Read 20 B.King 34 L.Lombard 8
Foll: J.Witts 28 N.Anderson - C 15 T.Miller 11
I/C: A.Davies 5 B.Long 22 Z.Uwland 32 O.Adams 48 J.Farrar 50
Emerg: N.Moyle 23 L.Gulbin 39 C.Graham 46
Notable absentees: Matt Rowell, Jed Walter, Nick Holman, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Charlie Ballard
GEELONG
B: C.O'Sullivan 14 S.De Koning 16 J.Henry 38
HB: Z.Guthrie 39 T.Stewart - C 44 L.Humphries 17
C: O.Dempsey 28 M.Holmes 9 M.O'Connor 42
HF: B.Close 45 S.Mannagh 7 G.Miers 32
F: O.Henry 36 S.Neale 33 J.Martin 19
Foll: M.Blicavs 46 T.Atkins 30 B.Smith 3
I/C: T.Bruhn 4 O.Mullin 34 M.Knevitt 10 J.Worpel 29 J.Clark 13
Emerg: J.Polkinghorne 2 L.Hofmann 23 M.Edwards 11
Notable absentees: Patrick Dangerfield, Rhys Stanley, Jeremy Cameron, Jake Kolodjashnij, Jack Bowes, Tyson Stengle, Jed Bews
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Greater Western Sydney v Hawthorn at Engie Stadium, 4.15pm AEDT
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
B: J.Laverde 25 J.Buckley 44 C.Idun 39
HB: J.Fonti 37 L.Whitfield 6 L.Ash 7
C: R.Angwin 9 C.Oliver 10 H.Thomas 1
HF: P.Gothard 11 J.Riccardi 26 J.Delana 38
F: T.Greene - C 4 J.Hogan 23 J.Stringer 20
Foll: K.Briggs 32 S.Coniglio 3 F.Callaghan 17
I/C: H.Himmelberg 27 H.Rowston 24 X.O'Halloran 33 C.Brown 46 M.Gruzewski 35
Emerg: J.Leake 30 N.Madden 41 O.Hannaford 13
Notable absentees: Josh Kelly, Sam Taylor, Tom Green, Brent Daniels, Toby Bedford, Aaron Cadman, Darcy Jones
HAWTHORN
B: B.Hardwick 15 T.Barrass 37 J.Scrimshaw 14
HB: J.Battle 24 J.Sicily - C 6 J.Weddle 23
C: D.Moore 8 C.Nash 11 J.Impey 4
HF: F.Maginness 20 J.Ginnivan 33 N.Watson 5
F: M.Lewis 2 M.Chol 18 J.Gunston 19
Foll: L.Meek 17 J.Newcombe 3 J.Ward 25
I/C: C.Macdonald 9 H.Morrison 1 M.D'Ambrosio 16 S.Butler 30 K.Amon 10
Emerg: F.Perez N.Mraz 21 N.Reeves 7
Notable absentees: Will Day, Cam Mackenzie, Ned Reeves, Calsher Dear
Brisbane v Western Bulldogs at the Gabba, 6.35pm AEST
BRISBANE
B: K.Coleman 18 D.Gardiner 27 R.Lester 35
HB: D.Wilmot 44 H.Andrews 31 D.Zorko 15
C: J.Fletcher 3 H.McCluggage 6 J.Berry 7
HF: C.Cameron 23 O.Allen 4 Z.Bailey 33
F: W.Ashcroft 8 L.Morris 13 T.Gallop 22
Foll: D.Fort 32 J.Dunkley - C 5 L.Neale 9
I/C: K.Lohmann 1 L.Ashcroft 10 C.Rayner 16 Z.Zakostelsky 21 B.Reville 38
Emerg: L.McCarthy 11 D.Annable 14 D.Joyce 41
Notable absentees: Eric Hipwood, Lincoln McCarthy, Conor McKenna, Noah Answerth, Tom Doedee, Jack Payne, Sam Draper
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: L.Jaques 11 B.Khamis 24 R.Lobb 7
HB: C.Budarick 19 J.O'Donnell 18 L.Bramble 29
C: S.Davidson 42 M.Bontempelli - C 4 B.Williams 34
HF: C.Hynes 6 S.Darcy 10 J.Freijah 27
F: J.Croft 16 A.Naughton 33 T.Liberatore 21
Foll: T.English 44 M.Kennedy 8 E.Richards 20
I/C: M.Sellwood 37 O.Baker 13 R.West 14 A.Jones 32 B.Dale 31
Emerg: H.Gallagher 12 W.Lewis L.Kennedy 35
Notable absentees: Adam Treloar, Laitham Vandermeer, Cody Weightman, Nick Coffield, Ryley Sanders
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
St Kilda v Collingwood at the MCG, 7.20pm AEDT
ST KILDA
B: J.Silvagni 3 C.Wilkie 44 A.Caminiti 47
HB: A.Tauru 26 B.Hill 8 N.Wanganeen-Milera 7
C: M.Windhager 2 M.Hall 40 D.Wilson 22
HF: M.Phillipou 25 H.Boxshall 38 M.Owens 10
F: R.Marshall 19 C.Sharman 43 J.Higgins 1
Foll: T.De Koning 21 S.Flanders 9 J.Sinclair - C 35
I/C: J.Macrae 6 L.Stocker 14 I.Keeler 17 J.Carroll 18 L.Ryan 31 M.Wood 32 H.Garcia 34 C.Banfield 36
Notable absentees: Dan Butler, Dougal Howard, Hunter Clark, Paddy Dow, Max King, Ryan Byrnes, Liam Henry
COLLINGWOOD
B: B.Frampton 17 I.Quaynor 3 B.Maynard 4
HB: D.Houston 9 J.Daicos 7 H.Perryman 12
C: W.Parker 15 N.Daicos - C 35 E.Allan 16
HF: L.Schultz 8 S.Sidebottom 22 B.McCreery 31
F: T.Membrey 28 J.Elliott 5 D.McStay 11
Foll: D.Cameron 14 J.Crisp 25 J.De Goey 2
I/C: P.Lipinski 1 S.Pendlebury 10 O.Steene 21 J.Cochran 27 L.Sullivan 33 J.Buller 34 N.Long 44 R.Steele 45
Notable absentees: Jeremy Howe, Darcy Moore, Bobby Hill