The Smithy’s VFL teams for Round 1.

Calsher Dear has been named at centre half forward for the Box Hill Hawks’ season-opener against the Sydney Swans at Kennedy Community Centre on Friday afternoon.

Dear has had a limited pre-season and will be joined in the Hawks team by SSP signing Flynn Perez, along with draftees Jack Dalton, Ollie Greeves, Cameron Nairn and Aidan Schubert.

Tyler Brown will play his first game since sustaining an Achilles injury in Round 19, 2024.

Taylor Adams has been named for Sydney, alongside 2025 draft crop Noah Chamberlain, Liam Hetheron, Harry Kyle and Jevan Phillipou.

Geelong has named Jack Bowes for its clash with Essendon at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night, as he continues his push for AFL selection.

Will White will play his first game after signing with the Cats following his delisting from Carlton, while youngsters Hunter Holmes, Jesse Mellor and Nick Driscoll will play their first games since being drafted last year.

Essendon will unveil top 10 draft picks Sullivan Robey and Jacob Farrow, while Jaxon Binns will play his first game in red and black.

Frankston will unveil a new on-ball division in its clash with Williamstown under the Kinetic Stadium Friday night lights, with recruits Tom Hofert, Will Papley and Will Derrington all set to make their club debut.

Williamstown will also take some new faces into the clash, including former AFL ruckman Braydon Preuss, David Cuningham, Josh D'Intinosante and Angus Seivers.

Kallan Dawson will make his club return after rejoining the Seagulls following three seasons with North Melbourne.

Teams for all remaining games will be published from 12:30pm Friday.

STREAMING: All matches in the 2026 Smithy’s VFL season will be live streamed free via the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App.

BROADCAST: ABC – Footscray Bulldogs vs Casey Demons; Kayo Sports – Richmond vs Southport Sharks and Gold Coast Suns vs Werribee; Seven Tasmania and 7plus – Tasmania vs Coburg

BOX HILL HAWKS vs SYDNEY SWANS

Friday 20 March, 12:35pm, Kennedy Community Centre

BOX HILL HAWKS
B: L. Ward (54), N. Mraz (21), B. Ryan (26)
HB: S. Horner (62), H. Morrison (1), B. Macdonald (42)
C: F. Perez (39), J. Dalton (34), C. Nairn (22)
HF: M. Hill (41), C. Dear (13), O. Greeves (35)
F: K. Declase (53), A. Schubert (29), W. McCabe (27)
R: M. Ramsden (38), F. Maginness (20), C. Anderson (32)
INT: T. Bianco (58), J. Uhr-Henry (43), W. Pewtress (79), T. Farrer (76), T. Brown (66)
23rd Player: T. Farrer (76)
EMG: B. Tennant (56), B. Simondson (74), J. Baldwin (72), G. Julian (52), W. Kellar (78), A. Lukic (60)

SYDNEY SWANS
B: P. Snell (41), J. Hamling (29), W. Edwards (28)
HB: M. Geddes (61), H. Kyle (32), H. Cunningham (7)
C: N. Chamberlain (42), C. Peters (53), K. Gibbs (68)
HF: T. Hanily (40), J. Harrison (65), J. Phillipou (18)
F: W. Green (45), K. Harbour (66), H. McLean (2)
R: P. Ladhams (19), T. Adams (3), N. Shipley (52)
INT: H. Cameron (69), L. Giacometti (51), J. Tidemann (57), J. Dattoli (9), L. Hetherton (39)
23rd Player: H. Cameron (69)                         
EMG: J. Ellwood (58), H. Podmore-Taylor (62), J. Callegari (59)

Head-to-head: Box Hill Hawks 2-1; At Kennedy Community Centre: Never met; Streak: Box Hill Hawks 2; Last time: Box Hill Hawks 15.12 (102) def Sydney Swans 11.9 (75) – Round 5, 2024, Box Hill City Oval

GEELONG CATS vs ESSENDON

Friday 20 March, 7:05pm, GMHBA Stadium

GEELONG CATS
B: M. Herbert (62), J. Kolodjashnij (8), N. Driscoll (27)
HB: C. Burke (41), D. Capiron (50), H. Holmes (22)
C: J. Bowes (12), L. Hofmann (23), O. Henry (36)
HF: W. White (52), J. Polkinghorne (2), O. Wiltshire (21)
F: J. Pike (37), M. Knevitt (10), J. Mellor (25)
R: R. Stanley (1), G. Stevens (15), J. Bews (24)
INT: J. Hart (48), M. Williams (54), J. Rantall (55), K. Annand (59), P. Kelly (74)
23rd Player: M. Williams (54)
EMG: J. Henderson (47), R. Gunsser (49), J. Costello (51), D. Edmends (53), J. Ballantyne (57), K. George (67), T. Bond (73), C. Green (84)

ESSENDON
B: T. Sellers (75), K. Gerreyn (19), D. Akuei (64)
HB: X. O'Neill (55), J. Farrow (2), S. El-Hawli (41)
C: J. Binns (74), J. Hately (50), N. Cox (13)
HF: A. Day-Wicks (44), R. Unwin (38), H. Jones (23)
F: W. Bella (77), L. McMahon (48), M. Guelfi (35)
R: V. Visentini (17), E. Tsatas (5), S. Robey (9)
INT: S. McKay (51), T. Kitchell (67), K. Ferronato (80), N. Scott (57), C. Nyko (65)
23rd Player: T. Kitchell (67)
EMG: J. Eckersley (58), C. Naish (81), K. Gallagher (69)

Head-to-head: Geelong 29-20-6; At GMHBA Stadium: Geelong 9-2; Streak: Geelong 1; Last time: Geelong 10.13 (73) def Essendon 9.5 (59) – Round 20, 2025, GMHBA Stadium

FRANKSTON vs WILLIAMSTOWN

Friday 20 March, 7:35pm, Kinetic Stadium

FRANKSTON
B: T. Milne (15), T. Barlow (3), P. Cotter (26)
HB: W. Hamill (9), A. Grant (19), T. O'Leary (29)
C: J. Voss (13), S. Quirk (11), T. Mynott (12)
HF: P. Dozzi (25), C. Ellison (4), D. Hipwell (14)
F: B. Lloyd (31), H. Coe (16), N. Gown (1)
R: T. Hofert (30), W. Papley (20), W. Derrington (24)
INT: O. Moran (28), K. De La Rue (33), L. Sharp (36), L. Reidy (2), B. Lambert (22)
EMG: H. Jones (8), B. Fergusson (42), H. Hayes (43), M. Gregory (38), J. Noble (37)

WILLIAMSTOWN
B: N. Pendergast (32), A. Bonar (25), L. Parks (22)
HB: M. Hollier (3), A. Seivers (45), H. Hall-Kahan (6)
C: M. Philpot (19), D. Cuningham (2), J. McHale (1)
HF: M. Stobie (28), J. D'Intinosante (30), H. Ollington (15)
F: B. Kennedy (23), T. Fullarton (16), K. Dawson (13)
R: B. Preuss (11), T. Triffett (7), J. Toner (14)
INT: H. Minton-Connell (4), J. Fitzgerald (8), K. Turner (27), D. Hollow (12), M. Zipf (50)
EMG: D. Moloney (9), J. Hamilton (21), C. Willis (26), A. Mirkov (49)

Head-to-head: Williamstown 47-25-1; At Kinetic Stadium: Williamstown 20-14-1; Streak: Williamstown 3; Last time: Williamstown 10.11 (71) def Frankston 8.12 (60) – Round 3, 2025, DSV Stadium

UMPIRES

BOX HILL HAWKS vs SYDNEY SWANS
FIELD: Jack Cannon (18), Emiel Morvell (3), Chris Menara (37), Thomas Lyon (41); BOUNDARY: Ben Rofe, Solomon Miesen, Corey Malcolm; GOAL: Brad Kellett, Adam Steger

GEELONG CATS vs ESSENDON
FIELD: Lachlan Coyne (2), Ned Welsh (6), Nicholas Scott (8), Campbell Hymans (17); BOUNDARY: Kyle Fisher, Cody Tuder, Lachlan Perdon; GOAL: Jack Stammers, Connor Petrie

FRANKSTON vs WILLIAMSTOWN
FIELD: Cooper Marriott (9), Connor Hawes (12), Cameron Williams (19); BOUNDARY: Bailey Wilson, Lachlan Wright, Jake D'Angelo, Mitch Dorling; GOAL: Callum Thornton, Chris Doyle