The Crows and Cats will test out their premiership credentials to open Gather Round 2025 at the Adelaide Oval. Follow along for all the action and reactions.
The Crows and Cats will test out their premiership credentials to open Gather Round 2025 at the Adelaide Oval. Follow along for all the action and reactions.
The first bounce has happened. The mood is electric in Adelaide.
Izak Rankine was tested right up until start time at the Adelaide Oval.
The star Crows player had calf muscle tightness during the week, putting him in doubt for tonight’s clash.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks confirmed in a Fox Footy interview that the club was using every minute before the match to test him.
Carlton have named star forward Harry McKay to make his return for the must-win clash with West Coast Eagles at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
McKay was one of four changes to the Blues side along with Matt Cottrell, Corey Durdin and debutant Matthew “Jeff” Carroll who replace Lewis Young, Lachlan Cowan, Ashton Moir and Cooper Lord.
The Eagles have dropped star midfielder Tim Kelly while key forward Jake Waterman and crumbling forward Liam Ryan are among the inclusions.
Richmond have not named premiership defender Noah Balta for their clash with Fremantle on Sunday, but he will play in their VFL side against Australia’s under-18s.
Balta was eligible to play after serving a six-game ban after being found guilty of assaulting a man in Mulwala in December.
He will be sentenced on April 22 and the Tigers have faced pressure from many people including Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, to not play until that happens.
“Noah will return through our VFL team this weekend given the time he has spent out of the game,” Richmond’s football performance general manager Tim Livingstone said.
“This is purely a football decision that we have made to ensure Noah builds important match conditioning before returning to AFL level.”
Fremantle named several leading players in their extended squad to face the Tigers led by Hayden Young, Sean Darcy and Sam Switkowski.
The Saints named Jack Steele, Liam Henry and debutant Hugh Boxshall in their extended squad to face GWS Giants who have included Stephen Coniglio in their squad.
The Cats will be without gun defender Tom Stewart, who has been hit by illness.
Geelong confirmed about 40 minutes ago that the club made a call on Stewart at about lunchtime.
“Unfortunately he’s out,” Geelong assistant coach Steven King told Fox Footy.
“We landed yesterday, went out to Woodville for training and he fell ill, gastro unfortunately.
“He didn’t recover in time. We made the call at about lunchtime today, so unfortunately he’s a late out.”