Grovedale will unveil four debutants among six changes for Saturday’s meeting with St Mary’s at Burdoo Reserve.
Homegrown trio Harry Hauenstein, Joel McCarthy, Tom Degoldi and North Warrnambool recruit Judah Greene have been named for their first GFNL senior games as the Tigers deal with a raft of key injuries.
Fellow inclusions Will Skene and Joel Martyn will play their first games of 2024.
They replace injured quarter Ryan Abbott (ankle), Brady Ferguson (hamstring), Cooper Leach (knee) and Daniel Harms (concussion), while Charlie Nelson and Blake Hodgson have been dropped.
Grovedale entered last week’s meeting with Lara with 16 players who had made 20 appearances or less at the GFNL senior level.
It will be a similar number against the experienced Saints tomorrow.
The undefeated Saints have managed Jarryd Garner and Elijah Wales, and Jesse Travaglini and Harry Ling are unavailable.
Midfielder Kade Chalcraft is also out of the team named on Thursday night. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a bulging disc in his neck.
Sam Dobson, Nick Connors and Joe Maishman return after missing the win over Geelong West.
Matt Keast will make his first appearance of the season after being left out of Werribee’s VFL team, and Luke Hillier has been elevated from the reserves.
Will Jeffery will make his 50th senior appearance for Grovedale.
Leopold has lost one gun midfielder but will regain another for its meeting with Lara at Bisninella Oval.
Captain Marcus Thompson (bone bruising) will miss the meeting with the Cats.
However, former Geelong VFL-listed Tom Feely is right to go after spending the past two games in the concussion protocol.
The reigning premier has also lost Team of the Year defender Tev Nofi and preliminary final hero Billy Ritchie to hamstring injuries, while Ryley Stone (back) is also sidelined.
Off-season recruit Tate Porter returns, and Nick Lane has been promoted from the reserves.
Lara has named potential debutants Declan Godwin and teenager Banjo Hickey in their extended squad.
South Barwon will debut under-18s graduate Max Mawson and recruit Lachie Weidemann (Rupunyap) after making five changes for the krockfootball.live meeting with Colac at McDonald Reserve.
Taylor Mulraney returns after missing the Anzac Day loss to St Joseph’s through illness, with Will Sexton and Jackson Carmody appearing at senior level for the first time this year.
They replace injured quartet Sam James, Tom Peirce, Fraser Duryea and captain Matt Caldow, with Tom Burke dropped.
Tigers skipper Jack Melican will play his first game of 2024, and fellow defender Will Parkhouse will return after missing the loss to Leopold.
Essendon has the VFL bye, which means Bailey Scott is available for Rowan McSparron’s men.
Darcy Howard and Sean Carbury have been named on an extended bench.
Ollie Butler and Luke Cardinal have gone out of last week’s team.
Injury-ravaged St Albans will welcome some reinforcements for its meeting with North Shore at Windsor Park.
Zac Larkins, Joel Grigsby and Bailey Brogden return after missing the loss to Newtown & Chilwell.
The Supersaints will also debut Miles Gray and Harrison Cockerell.
A Torquay junior, Gray played three games with Ballarat League grand finalist North Ballarat last year.
Cockerell has spent the last two years in the Colac and District League with Birregurra.
The Seagulls will be without big man Kobe Annand, whose form has been too hard for Werribee to ignore.
St Joseph’s welcomes back recruit Liam Betson for the meeting with archrival Newtown & Chilwell at Drew Oval.
He comes into the Joeys squad for Austin Humphrey.
The Towners welcome back co-captain Matt McMahon after he was managed out of last week’s win over St Albans. At the same time, Mitch Diamond returns after being unavailable against the Supersaints.
Rhys Devlin and Archie Lazzaro have been squeezed out for Mick Condy’s 150th appearance in red and black.
Geelong West will be without star midfielder Jake Smith for its crucial meeting with Bell Park at West Oval.
Smith will become the third generation of his family to represent Werribee at VFA/VFL level after being called up by the Tigers for tomorrow’s meeting with Carlton.
Tanner Lewis has been recalled to the Geelong VFL team.
However, Emmanuel Ajang was dropped by the Tigers, while Phil Moimoi’s an emergency for Sydney.
The undefeated Dragons appear set to take an unchanged team into the clash.
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