St Mary’s has promoted Lachy Peck at the expense of Hamish Bourke for Saturday’s mouthwatering matchup with Leopold at Anthony Costa Oval.
The Saints are coming off an impressive Round 1 win over Newtown & Chilwell, with co-coach Luke Rayner looking forward to the early challenge.
“Reigning premiers, and they’ve been able to add to their group, in terms of recruiting in the off-season,” he said.
“No doubt, they’re the benchmark, and they’re the ones to beat.
“We’re really looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge nice and early in the season to see where we’re at as a group and play a quality opponent.”
Lachy Peck replaces Hamish Bourke, with the Saints still without premiership pair Max Augerinos and Matt Copley.
The Lions will definitely be without gun midfielder Tom Feely as he gets to the bottom of a head knock suffered in the win over Geelong West last week.
Forward Jake Pitt (calf) and defender Tev Nofi (ankle) have been named to take on the Saints.
Premiership star Luke Justin, who acted as runner last week, looms as the replacement for Feely.
Catch all the action via krockfootball.live from 1pm tomorrow.
After being blown away by grand finalist South Barwon, Grovedale will look to bounce back quickly against Geelong West at West Oval.
The Tigers will be keen to avoid going 0-2 in a match that bounces at 1:10 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the GDFNL Giants.
“We’ve got some work to do this week against Geelong West and hopefully rectify some of the things we didn’t get right on the weekend,” coach Jacob Spolding said.
“Hopefully, we play a better brand of footy and compete for longer in the game.”
Harvey Murrant is unavailable for the Tigers. He has been replaced by debutant Cooper Leach.
Leach represented Vic Country in a trial match against Vic Metro ahead of this year’s under-18 national championships after impressive performances for the Geelong Falcons.
The Giants look set to have access to Jamieson Ballantyne after he was left out of Geelong’s VFL team.
Newtown & Chilwell has been boosted by the inclusion of midfielder Liam Nash for its meeting with Colac at Central Reserve.
Nash is one of two inclusions for the Eagles, with Rory Diamond to make his first senior appearance of the season.
However, they will be without livewire forward Flynn Young, who has failed to overcome an ankle injury suffered early in the loss to St Mary’s.
The Towners are also preparing to be without Riley Orr for the remainder of the season, with scans today expected to confirm a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
The Tigers have included Luke Inglis, Jal Makuey, and Torquay recruit Joel Cooper in their extended squad.
Jarryn McCormack (unavailable) and Sean Carbury have gone out of the team that lost to Bell Park last week.
Lara has included star forward Mitch Day, the experienced Galen Munari, and youngster Zekiah Davey for its meeting with reigning grand finalist South Barwon at McDonald Reserve.
However, Cats fans will again have to wait for co-coach Devon Smith (quad) to play his first game since returning to the club at the end of 2022.
The Swans have lost Jake Peters for at least a month with a shoulder injury, while Fraser Duryea will be sidelined through illness.
Pat Cunningham and Zac Urquhart will fill their spots.
Jordan Purcell has been selected for his first game of 2024 as Joseph Salmon’s replacement as North Shore prepares for a testing meeting with St Joseph’s at Windsor Park.
As K rock Football revealed on Wednesday night, Salmon and the Seagulls have agreed that the Northern Territory product, who is facing more than 30 charges in a Darwin court next month, will step away from the game.
Joeys will make at least four changes to the team that was too strong for St Albans in Round 1.
Ruck Oli Northam and defender Harry Smith are both suspended, while Jack Buckley and Oli Hanneysee have hamstring injuries.
Youngsters Charlie Hall, Charlie Clark, Finn McCombe, and Nick Sanders, who spent last with Ballarat league club East Point, have been promoted.
St Albans has suffered a blow to its midfield ahead of the clash with Bell Park at St Albans Reserve, with Sam Donegan recalled by VFL club Northern Bullants.
Brad Horsham and Riley Somers have also come out of the team that lost to St Joseph’s in Round 1.
Isaiah Harrison has been promoted from the reserves, and Darcy Storrar and Ben Wolfenden will play their first games of the season for the Supersaints.
The Dragons have lodged an unchanged team.
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