The Smithy’s VFL preliminary finals teams.

Box Hill Hawks and Essendon have both lost key big men to injury for Saturday’s second preliminary final at Box Hill City Oval.

Ned Reeves comes out of the Hawks’ line-up following a dominant final quarter in the second qualifying final win over Werribee a fortnight ago.

Essendon will be without in-form forward Tom Edwards, who returns to the sidelines having only just returned for last week’s first semi final win over Tasmania where he booted two goals.

Both the Hawks and Bombers will have 17 AFL-listed players in their line-up, with Jack Scrimshaw returning for the Hawks to replace Reeves, while the Bombers have recalled promising ruck Boston Dowling.

Minor premier Geelong has brough in four significant inclusions for its clash with Port Melbourne in the first preliminary final at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday.

Sam De Koning, Rhys Stanley, Jack Martin and Jhye Clark all return for the Cats after missing the first qualifying final win over Tasmania two weeks ago.

Their return means the Cats will field16 AFL-listed players against the standalone Borough.

Port Melbourne is unchanged once again, having featured the same 23 players in its two finals wins over Werribee and Sydney Swans across the past fortnight.

BROADCAST AND STREAMING: The 2026 Smithy’s VFL preliminary finals will be broadcast live and free by ABC TV VIC, the network’s main channel in Victoria, and ABC iview nationally. Both matches will also be live streamed free via the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App.

BOX HILL HAWKS vs ESSENDON

Second Preliminary Final
Saturday 12 September, 11:05am, Box Hill City Oval

BOX HILL HAWKS (17)
B: B. Ryan (26), J. Blanck (36), J. Scrimshaw (14)
HB: M. Leray (31), N. Mraz (21), S. Horner (62)
C: J. Dalton (34), H. Hustwaite (44), F. Perez (39)
HF: C. Nairn (22), C. Dear (13), W. McCabe (27)
F: F. Maginness (20), A. Schubert (29), S. Butler (30)
R: M. Ramsden (38), M. Hill (41), O. Greeves (35)
INT: T. Farrer (76), B. McLaughlin (50), W. Pewtress (79), C. Preston (73), T. Bianco (58)
23rd Player: T. Farrer (76)
EMG: S. Sofronidis (63), B. Simondson (74), T. Brown (66), J. Walker (77), L. Ward (54), K. Declase (53), G. Julian (52), A. Lukic (60)

IN: J. Scrimshaw
OUT: N. Reeves (injured)

ESSENDON (17)
B: J. Artemis (34), H. Jones (23), M. Kondogiannis (29)
HB: A. Clarke (36), Z. Johnson (40), S. El-Hawli (41)
C: R. Unwin (38), C. Bourke (39), M. Guelfi (35)
HF: H. El Achkar (33), J. Gresham (11), J. Nguyen (42)
F: N. Cox (13), L. McMahon (48), T. Sellers (75)
R: V. Visentini (17), W. Setterfield (12), E. Tsatas (5)
INT: D. Kalpakis (52), T. Kitchell (67), X. O'Neill (55), J. Hately (50), B. Dowling (73)
23rd Player: T. Kitchell (67)
EMG: J. Eckersley (58), R. Brodie (60), D. Uerata (59), S. McKay (51), J. Binns (74), C. Nyko (65)

IN: B. Dowling
OUT: T. Edwards (injured)

Head-to-head: Box Hill Hawks 9-8; At Box Hill City Oval: Tied 2-2; Streak: Essendon 1; Last time: Box Hill Hawks 6.10 (46) def by Essendon 10.11 (71) – Round 18, 2026, Kennedy Community Centre

GEELONG CATS vs PORT MELBOURNE

First Preliminary Final
Sunday 13 September, 1:35pm, GMHBA Stadium

GEELONG CATS (16)
B: K. Matofai-Forbes (31), N. Kreuger (69), L. Hofmann (23)
HB: N. Driscoll (27), C. Burke (41), J. Bews (24)
C: J. Bowes (12), G. Stevens (15), H. Holmes (22)
HF: D. Capiron (50), J. Molier (20), J. Mellor (25)
F: J. Martin (19), R. Stanley (1), S. De Koning (16)
R: J. Pike (37), M. Knevitt (10), J. Clark (13)
INT: J. Rantall (55), J. Ballantyne (57), P. Kelly (74), L. Weidemann (76), Z. Stevens (78)
23rd Player: Z. Stevens (78)
EMG: J. Hart (48), J. Costello (51), D. Edmends (53), J. Hose (65), T. Lewis (66), K. George (67), L. Antonac (79), T. Peirce (81)

IN: J. Clark, S. De Koning, J. Martin, R. Stanley
OUT: W. White (ankle/leg), D. Edmends, K. George, T. Peirce (omitted)

PORT MELBOURNE
B: M. Rudd (36), T. Graham (28), M. Gahan (22)
HB: L. Rankin (15), J. Van Es (6), N. Hawkins (18)
C: H. Stubbings (12), J. Green (14), C. Downie (13)
HF: M. Rider (21), R. Polkinghorne (24), D. Bedendo (2)
F: R. George (34), K. Baldwin (11), L. Alessio (27)
R: F. Penry (33), T. Hird (4), B. Hobbs (8)
INT: A. Tonelli (31), F. Hughes (45), J. Sparkman (43), O. Mulady (5), J. Tovey (10)
EMG: M. White (39), D. Lloyd (37), C. Connell-Tobin (19), A. Manton (16), F. Rosman (3)

No change

Head-to-head: Geelong 25-22-4; At GMHBA Stadium: Geelong 4-0; Streak: Port Melbourne 2; Last time: Port Melbourne 6.15 (51) def Geelong Cats 6.11 (47) – Round 8, 2025, ETU Stadium

UMPIRES

BOX HILL HAWKS vs ESSENDON
FIELD: Scott Simpson (15), Campbell Hymans (17), Samuel Ferguson (23); Emergency: Cameron Williams (19)
BOUNDARY: Corey Malcolm, Bailey Wilson, Riley Guerin, Lachlan Perdon
GOAL: John Varker, Joshua Hickman; Emergency: Will Robertson

GEELONG CATS vs PORT MELBOURNE
FIELD: Lachlan Coyne (2), Samuel Whetton (4), Sam Hurford (44); Emergency: Connor Howes (12)
BOUNDARY: Mitchell Dorling, Lewis Spiker, Benedict Duce, Mitchell O’Neill
GOAL: Adam Steger, Josh Dudman Doyle; Emergency: Bradley Kellett