MELBOURNE captain Kate Hore will play in round one after overcoming a knee complaint, as will star forward Tayla Harris, as the side prepares to face the Western Bulldogs on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile star Bulldog Isabelle Pritchard has been named following a knee concern of her own, set to take her place in the midfield alongside stalwart Ellie Blackburn and draftee Sarah Poustie. Top draft pick Emma McDonald will also line up in attack for the Dogs.
More top 20 draft selections have been named to make their debut across the opening round, with Adelaide’s India Rasheed and Melbourne’s Molly O’Hehir headlining the weekend’s games.
Exciting West Australian Zippy Fish will run out for Sydney in the No.23 guernsey, while Hawthorn’s first pick Lavinia Cox has also been named, as has premiership defender Najwa Allen who made the move from Adelaide over the off season.
Greater Western Sydney will unveil a host of new additions, including former Western Bulldogs defender Eleanor Brown, set to play her first game since October 2023, exciting Irishwoman Grace Kós, and top draftee Sara Howley.
Last year’s Irish sensation Eilish O’Dowd has also been named, despite only landing back in Australia last Friday.
Laela Ebert and Maggie Mahony will join O’Hehir in debuting for the Demons, who will be without important players Tahlia Gillard (knee) and Georgia Gall (foot).
Star Sydney trio Chloe Molloy, Montana Ham, and Ally Morphett are all in the side set to take on Richmond on Friday evening, as are new recruits Jasmine Grierson, Darcy Moloney, Ash Van Loon, and Lulu Pullar.
Richmond has opted not to play its top draft selection Sierra Grieves, instead naming the midfielder as an emergency, but former Bomber Paige Scott and replacement signing Lulu Beatty will both make their Tigers debut.
Emma Kearney, Emma King, and Vikki Wall will all miss for reigning premier North Melbourne, with former Tiger Eilish Sheerin, ex-Docker Ariana Hetherington, and Irishwoman Blaithin Bogue all running out for the Kangaroos for the first time.
Brisbane has named Neasa Dooley and Claudia Wright in its extended bench for potential debuts, the Crows have included Hannah Ewings in their Sunday squad, and Indy Tahau is named in Port Adelaide’s backline for a comeback more than 600 days after a serious knee injury.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 15
Sydney v Richmond at North Sydney Oval, 6.15pm AEST
SYDNEY
B: B.Tarrant 20 A.Mitchell 8
HB: J.O’Sullivan 24 J.Grierson 11 L.Pullar 12
C: L.McEvoy 9 L.Gardiner 31 P.McCarthy 15
HF: H.Cooper 2 M.Ham 18 C.Hamilton 10
F: R.Privitelli 19 C.Molloy – C 5
Foll: A.Morphett 7 T.Kennedy 29 S.Hurley 25
I/C: A.Van Loon 17 Z.Fish 23 L.Hausegger 26 D.Moloney 4 C.Reid 13
Emerg: A.Martin 21 A.Hamilton 30 M.Collier 14
RICHMOND
B: I.Bacon 11 L.McClelland 16
HB: K.Cox 17 G.Seymour 28 J.Hicks 6
C: K.Dempsey 19 E.McKenzie 22 M.Shevlin 35
HF: P.Scott 5 K.Brennan – C 3 E.Yassir 2
F: C.Greiser 9 R.Miller 15
Foll: P.Kelly 14 M.Beruldsen 8 M.Conti 4
I/C: G.Egan 1 A.Dallaway 30 L.Beatty 38 L.Graham 18 M.Ford 33
Emerg: S.Grieves 25 L.Brazzale 12 C.Wicksteed 24
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16
Geelong v North Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium, 3.35pm AEST
GEELONG
B: G.Rankin 10 C.Gunjaca 26
HB: R.Kearns 22 M.McDonald – C 11 R.Webster 21
C: Z.Friswell 20 G.Prespakis 41 J.Crockett-Grills 6
HF: M.Bowen 1 J.Parry 5 K.Surman 7
F: A.Moloney 45 K.Darby 8
Foll: P.Dunlop 38 A.McDonald 3 N.Morrison 9
I/C: K.Kenny 12 C.Thorne 25 M.Bragg 44 B.O’Rourke 23 E.Kilpatrick 27
Emerg: B.Smith 2 A.Gregor 30 E.Fowler 17
NORTH MELBOURNE
B: L.Birch 2 J.Ferguson 20
HB: N.Bresnehan 12 E.Shannon 11 E.Sheerin 4
C: T.Craven 5 M.King 23 T.Gatt 8
HF: J.Bruton 35 B.Eddey 3 A.O’Loughlin 6
F: T.Randall 16 K.Shierlaw 33
Foll: K.Rennie 26 A.Riddell 7 J.Garner – C 25
I/C: E.O’Shea 14 R.Tripodi 19 A.Smith 15 B.Bogue 10 A.Hetherington 29
Emerg: T.Boyd 24 A.Gavin-Mangan 21 G.Stubs 27
Greater Western Sydney v Essendon at Corroboree Group Oval, 5.35pm AEST
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
B: I.Huntington 12 E.Brown 8
HB: K.Smith 4 C.McCormick 25 E.Pease 33
C: S.Howley 9 R.Beeson – C 6 M.Brazendale 23
HF: G.Garnett 17 A.Eva 2B.Mowbray 31
F: T.Evans 18 Z.Goldsworthy 7
Foll: G.Kos 27 A.Parker 3 K.Srhoj 14
I/C: G.Martin 1 S.Kavanagh 21 M.Pauga 13 C.Fletcher 11 E.O’Dowd 15
Emerg: T.Levy 10 I.Linde 19 A.Newman 16
ESSENDON
B: T.Chambers 13 E.Gamble 14
HB: A.Gaylor 23 G.Clarke 17 M.Busch 28
C: H.Ridewood 10 G.Belloni 7 B.Walker 9
HF: M.MacLachlan 21 C.Murphy 33 S.Cain – C 20
F: B.Toogood 8 D.Bannister 3
Foll: M.Dyke 16 G.Nanscawen 5 M.Prespakis 4
I/C: S.Van De Heuvel 27 S.Alexander 24 A.Morcom 25 C.Adams 15 G.Gee 2
Emerg: J.Verbrugge 29 A.Gladman 26 M.Van Dyke 19
Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at Mission Whitten Oval, 7.35pm AEST
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: I.Grant 3 L.Ahrens 27
HB: E.Georgostathis 17 K.Kimber 28 B.Gutknecht 18
C: R.Wilcox 37 J.Fitzgerald 23 J.Smith 10
HF: S.Hartwig 15 E.McDonald 9 E.Blackburn – C 2
F: L.Stephenson 14 H.Woodley 19
Foll: A.Edmonds 33 D.Carruthers 8 I.Pritchard 4
I/C: C.Buttifant 20 E.Grigg 5 E.Gavalas 25 S.Poustie 1 E.Bennetts 11
Emerg: B.Barwick 12 K.Hardingham 24 A.McKee 26
MELBOURNE
B: L.Ebert 19 S.Taylor 28
HB: M.O’Hehir 11 S.Lampard 8 M.Chaplin 13
C: P.Paxman 4 T.Hanks 5 E.McNamara 22
HF: M.Mahony 20 A.Bannan 6 E.Zanker 29
F: K.Hore – C 10 T.Harris 7
Foll: L.Pearce 15 O.Purcell 2 S.Heath 30
I/C: B.Mackin 31 G.Campbell 1 L.Johnson 33 M.Fitzsimon 24 A.Pisano 3
Emerg: R.Wotherspoon 12 A.Dethridge 14 S.Goldrick 23
SUNDAY, AUGUST 17
Brisbane v Hawthorn at Brighton Homes Arena, 12.40pm AEST
BRISBANE
B: L.Postlethwaite 6 J.Dunne 8
HB: B.Koenen – C 3 N.Grider 10 J.Ellenger 5
C: C.Mullins 28 A.Anderson 18 O.O’Dwyer 9
HF: C.Svarc 25 D.Davidson 14 R.Svarc 29
F: T.Smith 31 E.Hampson 7
Foll: T.Hickie 2 S.Conway 12 I.Dawes 17
I/C: S.Campbell 20 R.Crozier 23 E.Long 16 S.Davison 11 N.Dooley 13 C.Hodder 21 E.Hartill 1 C.Wright 24
HAWTHORN
B: A.Kemp 16 E.Everist 25
HB: K.Ashmore 10 T.Lucas-Rodd 18 T.Smith 24
C: M.Williamson 27 E.Bates – C 1 G.Bodey 3
HF: J.Fleming 5 A.Gilroy 7 N.Allen 4
F: L.Cox 8 Á.McDonagh 13
Foll: L.Wales 31 E.West 2 C.Sherriff 12
I/C: K.Coyne 9 D.Flockart 14 J.Vukic 23 L.Elliott 20 B.Hipwell 19 H.McLaughlin 6 S.Butterworth 28 L.Stone 22
St Kilda v Adelaide at RSEA Park, 2.10pm AEST
ST KILDA
B: H.Priest – C 14 N.Stevens 2
HB: K.Forbes 15 P.Trudgeon 10 S.Watson 12
C: M.McDonald 1 J.Lambert 9 C.Baskaran 26
HF: E.Friend 16 J.Wardlaw 30 G.Patrikios 21
F: Z.Besanko 11 A.Richards 22
Foll: R.Ott 20 J.Anderson 7 T.Smith 6
I/C: A.Burke 3 D.Guttridge 5 B.Jakobsson 8 R.Caris 19 Am.Clarke 25 L.Hung 29 N.Plane 32 Ar.Clarke 34
ADELAIDE
B: C.Biddell 12 Z.Prowse 4
HB: K.Cronin 22 S.Allan 39 S.Goodwin 11
C: N.Kelly 23 A.Hatchard 33 M.Newman 17
HF: I.Rasheed 8 D.Ponter 15 R.Martin 5
F: C.Gould 1 E.Jones 2
Foll: J.Allan 32 E.Marinoff – C 10 T.Charlton 25
I/C: B.Tonon 28 G.Kelly 20 K.Kustermann 7 H.Ewings 9 H.Munyard 6 B.Boileau 3 B.Smith 18 S.Thompson 14
Port Adelaide v Fremantle at Alberton Oval, 3.40pm ACST
PORT ADELAIDE
B: A.Borg 21 I.Tahau 10
HB: S.Syme 20 T.Germech 30 M.Brooksby 6
C: S.Goody 16 A.Dowrick 5 E.Heads 12
HF: J.Mules-Robinson – C 1 G.Houghton 27 J.Sowden 32
F: A.Woodland 8 J.Stewart 13
Foll: M.Scholz 29 M.Moloney 9 P.Window 4
I/C: E.O’Dea 2 E.Boag 17 K.Lamb 35 K.Pope 44 A.Brook 23 C.Gaunt 31 C.Morgan 19 L.Paterson 7
FREMANTLE
B: A.Brazill 24 I.Strom 26
HB: A.Stannett – C 4 L.Pugh 32 E.O’Driscoll 3
C: O.Lally 14 M.Kauffman 25 J.Low 30
HF: G.Brisbane 13 G.O’Sullivan 9 H.Miller 19
F: B.Smith 22 D.East 8
Foll: M.Strom 21 K.Bowers 2 G.Newton 1
I/C: T.Kikoak 37 A.Mulholland 33 G.Biedenweg-Webster 31 A.McCarthy 7 S.Verrier 5 P.Seth 18 J.Cregg 23 H.Ifould 17
