WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Tom Liberatore will play against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium in his first game for premiership points since 2014 after having an ACL reconstruction.
Teammates Josh Dunkley and Marcus Adams will debut, while Matt Suckling is in for his first game for the Dogs since coming from Hawthorn.
Tory Dickson misses out after struggling to get over an adductor issue.
Nathan Hrovat, Jack Redpath and Lin Jong will be emergencies. Redpath played in the Dogs' elimination final loss to Adelaide last year but has been replaced by Tom Boyd.
Michael Johnson was earlier withdrawn from Fremantle's squad. He failed to train last Wednesday and has not played since being concussed in a sling tackle from Geelong's Nakia Cockatoo in a pre-season game.
Charlie Dixon lines up for Port Adelaide for the first time against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval, while Jared Polec returns after injuring the navicular bone in his foot in round five last year.
Aaron Young, Jimmy Toumpas and Karl Amon are emergencies for the Power.
All three played in last Thursday's SANFL 25-point loss to Norwood.
Last year's No.18 draft pick, Jade Gresham, will debut for St Kilda on Sunday afternoon.
Eric Mackenzie makes his return to West Coast after a torn ACL ruled him out for the whole of last season.
The Eagles play the Brisbane Lions at Domain Stadium, and ex-Lion Jack Redden will face his old club first up. No.2 draft pick, Josh Schache, debuts for the Lions, and will be joined by Geelong recruit Josh Walker.
Meanwhile, Essendon will play five top-up players against Gold Coast on Saturday, with just eight faces taking the field from its round 23 team last year.
Captain Brendon Goddard, Shaun McKernan, Mark Baguley, David Zaharakis, Kyle Langford, Jackson Merrett, Martin Gleeson and Joe Daniher are the only players remaining from September's three-point win over Collingwood.
The top-up players are Geelong premiership pair Mathew Stokes and James Kelly, former Fremantle tagger Ryan Crowley, former Hawk Jonathan Simpkin and ex-Tiger Matt Dea.
Ten players in all will wear Essendon colours for the first time.
They play a Gold Coast team that has named skipper Gary Ablett (foot) and Dion Prestia (knee) who have overcome pre-season injuries to make the opening round.
The Sydney Swans will hand debuts to three players in the same game for the first time in 26 years on Saturday night, when Callum Mills, George Hewett and rookie-elevation Tom Papley run out against Collingwood at the SCG.
Former Bulldog Michael Talia and former Eagle Callum Sinclair will also make their Swans debuts.
Adam Treloar will play his first game in Collingwood colours after switching from Greater Western Sydney in the off-season.
Click here for every team's injury list
The Swans' cross-town rivals GWS will unleash Geelong premiership player Steve Johnson for the first time against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday afternoon, while Jonathon Patton has been left out despite the suspension of fellow forward Jeremy Cameron.
Melbourne will give a debut to No.4 draft pick Clayton Oliver, while Tom Bugg will play his first game in the red and blue after transferring from the Giants.
In Saturday's other game, Adelaide will unveil Paul Seedsman against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, while the Kangaroos have selected Daniel Wells to play his first game since round two last season.
Key selections for round one
Richmond v Carlton at the MCG, Thursday March 24, 7.20pm AEDT
RICHMOND
New: Jacob Townsend (GWS), Daniel Rioli (St Mary's)
Notable absentees: Ivan Maric, Brent Deledio, Chris Yarran, Shaun Grigg
CARLTON
New: Sam Kerridge (Adelaide), Jed Lamb (GWS), Andrew Phillips (GWS), Jacob Weitering (Dandenong U18), Matthew Wright (Adelaide)
Notable absentees: Dale Thomas, Liam Jones, Lachie Plowman
Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney at the MCG, Saturday March 26, 1.40pm AEDT
MELBOURNE
New: Clayton Oliver (Murray U18)
Notable absentees: Chris Dawes, Christian Petracca
GWS
New: Steve Johnson (Geelong)
Notable absentees: Stephen Coniglio, Jonathon Patton, Jeremy Cameron
Gold Coast v Essendon at Metricon Stadium, Saturday March 26 at 3.25pm AEST
GOLD COAST
New: Ryan Davis (Swan Districts), Matt Rosa (West Coast)
Notable absentees: Jaeger O'Meara, David Swallow
ESSENDON
New: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon VFL), Ryan Crowley (Fremantle), Mathew Stokes (Geelong), James Kelly (Geelong), Jonathan Simpkin (Hawthorn), Mitch Brown (Sandringham), Matt Dea (Richmond), Darcy Parish (Geelong U18), Craig Bird (Sydney Swans), Matthew Leuenberger (Brisbane Lions)
Notable absentees: Courtenay Dempsey, Mark Jamar, Sam Grimley
North Melbourne v Adelaide at Etihad Stadium, Saturday March 26 at 7.25pm AEDT
NORTH MELBOURNE
New: Jed Anderson (Hawthorn)
Notable absentees: Lachie Hansen
ADELAIDE
New: Wayne Milera (Central District), Mitch McGovern (Claremont), Paul Seedsman (Collingwood)
Notable absentees: Curtly Hampton
Sydney Swans v Collingwood at the SCG, Saturday March 26 at 7.25pm AEDT
SYDNEY SWANS
New: Callum Sinclair (West Coast), Michael Talia (Western Bulldogs), Callum Mills (North Shore), Tom Papley (Gippsland U18), George Hewett (North Adelaide)
Notable absentees: Jarrad McVeigh, Sam Reid, Ben McGlynn, Ted Richards
COLLINGWOOD
New: Adam Treloar (GWS)
Notable absentees: Travis Varcoe, Jamie Elliott, Jeremy Howe, Brodie Grundy, James Aish
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, Sunday March 27 at 1.10pm AEDT
WESTERN BULLDOGS
New: Marcus Adams (West Perth), Josh Dunkley (Gippsland U18), Matt Suckling (Hawthorn)
Notable absentees: Will Minson, Tom Campbell, Lin Jong
FREMANTLE
New: Nil
Notable absentees: Harley Bennell, Aaron Sandilands, Michael Johnson
Port Adelaide v St Kilda at the Adelaide Oval, Sunday March 27 at 2.50pm ACDT
PORT ADELAIDE
New: Charlie Dixon (Gold Coast)
Notable absentees: Nathan Krakouer
ST KILDA
New: Jade Gresham (Northern U18)
Notable absentees: Nathan Freeman, Paddy McCartin, Billy Longer
West Coast v Brisbane Lions at Domain Stadium, Sunday March 27 at 4.40pm AWST
WEST COAST
New: Jack Redden (Brisbane Lions)
Notable absentees: Chris Masten, Mitch Brown, Dom Sheed, Lewis Jetta
BRISBANE LIONS
New: Josh Schache (Murray U18), Tom Bell (Carlton), Josh Walker (Geelong), Ryan Bastinac (North Melbourne)
Notable absentees: Dayne Beams, Dayne Zorko
Geelong v Hawthorn at the MCG, Monday March 28 at 3.20pm AEDT
GEELONG
New: Lachie Henderson (Geelong), Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
Notable absentees: Mitch Clark, Scott Selwood, Jackson Thurlow
HAWTHORN
New: Blake Hardwick (Eastern U18), Kaiden Brand (West Adelaide)
Notable absentees: Jarryd Roughead, Bradley Hill, Liam Shiels
