The 18 year-old was named as an emergency last week, and will finally make his debut in Tasmania following another solid performance in the VFL.
Cunnington had 29 possessions only a fortnight ago for North Ballarat and backed that effort up with another 15 against the Bullants last week.
Senior coach Brad Scott expressed his confidence in the youngster during a press conference on Thursday.
"He (Cunnington) is renowned for his hardness and aggression and leadership qualities. He's a very classy player, he's very clean and he's got good skills," Scott told the media at Arden Street.
While Cunnington's inclusion will provide some toughness through the midfield, Josh Smith will be searching for goals as he looks to break into a forward line already brimming with tall marking options.
Now in his third season at the club, Smith has struggled to secure a regular spot in the side, despite playing the final two games of 2009.
Hard-nut Levi Greenwood returns for his first game of the season after recovering from a broken toe. His inclusion is no surprise after spending the entire pre-season campaign in the senior mix.
Also returning from an injury lay-off is exciting midfielder Cruize Garlett. The number 32 played five games towards the end of last season and played in both of the Roos' NAB Cup games before injuring his wrist.
Stay tuned to kangaroos.com.au at 5pm tomorrow to see the final selections.
North Melbourne
FB 11 - M.Firrito 16 - S.Thompson 3 - B.Rawlings
HB 17 - N.Grima 6 - L.Hansen 42 - S.McMahon
C 7 - J.Ziebell 10 - B.Cunnington 28 - R.Bastinac
HF 27 - A.Edwards 22 - T.Goldstein 29 - B.Harvey
FF 8 - D.Wells 31 - D.Hale 5 - B.Warren
FOLL 1 - H.McIntosh 9 - A.Swallow 24 - L.Greenwood
INT 4 - L.Anthony, 12 - L.Thomas, 13 - L.Adams, 14 - G.Urquhart, 18 - J.Smith, 19 - S.Wright, 32 - C.Garlett
INS: J.Smith , L.Greenwood , C.Garlett , B.Cunnington
OUTS: L.Harding
Hawthorn
FB: Brent Guerra 18 Stephen Gilham 27 Tom Murphy 29
HB: Ben Stratton 39 Ryan Schoenmakers 25 Rick Ladson 4
C: Grant Birchall 14 Sam Mitchell 5 Jordan Lewis 3
HF: Cyril Rioli 33 Lance Franklin 23 Chance Bateman 10
FF: Michael Osborne 7 Jarryd Roughead 2 Campbell Brown 30
FOLL: Brent Renouf 34 Luke Hodge 15 Brad Sewell 12
INT: Xavier Ellis 8 Jarrod Kayler-Thomson 45 Garry Moss 28 Carl Peterson 48 Liam Shiels 26 Brendan Whitecross 37 Clinton Young 11
INS: Franklin, Kayler-Thomson, Sewell, Shiels
OUTS: Morton (omit)
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