Riewoldt, who the Saints have opted to rest for the match, will be joined on the sidelines by another 2009 All-Australian Brendon Goddard. The Saints' defensive general is also being rested allowing for the inclusion of young guns Tom Lynch and Will Johnson. Defender Leigh Fisher has also been named.
Fremantle has brought in skipper Matthew Pavlich and midfielder Paul Hasleby to the side that defeated North Melbourne last week. The pair were rested after the win over Melbourne in week one of the NAB Cup.
Small forward Hayden Ballantyne has been rested after an impressive start to his 2010 campaign.
Will Minson has been included in the Western Bulldogs squad to take on Port Adelaide in this week’s NAB Cup semi-final.
Minson hasn’t played since he was poisoned by a bad batch of soy milk over summer. He will take Ben Hudson’s spot as first ruckman.
Hudson and Daniel Giansiracusa have been rested from the side that defeated Hawthorn and Brad Johnson will have to wait at least one more week as he recovers from a calf-related achilles injury.
Jay Nash has been dropped from the Port Adelaide side that knocked off West Coast last week. Josh Carr, Daniel Motlop and Hamish Hartlett will also miss out.
Patrick Dangerfield returns for Adelaide against the Demons, and the Crows have also called rookie Ricky Henderson, Will Young and Daniel Talia into their 29-man squad. James Sellar, who broke his hand against Collingwood last week, is an omission.
Melbourne has rested midfielder Colin Sylvia for Saturday’s game, while Corey Jones and Brady Rawlings come back into the North Melbourne side for the clash with the Hawks.
Hawthorn recruit Josh Gibson will take his place against his old side, along with Chance Bateman and Rhan Hooper who will play their first games of the year. Premiership players Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis, Grant Birchall and Cambpell Brown will sit out the match.
Carlton has named five first-time players to make the trip to Perth to play the Eagles. Rohan Kerr and Caleb Tiller are ni the mix to play, as are rookies Levi Casboult, Josh Donaldson and Simon White.
For West Coast, star onballer Daniel Kerr has still not recovered sufficiently to play on the weekend, while Dean Cox, Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras will all be rested.
The Swans will welcome back Rhyce Shaw and Dan Hannebery from injury when they take on the Bombers in Blacktown on Saturday.
Essendon has included four players for their first game in the red and black, with Taite Silverlock, Marcus Marigliani, Jake Carlisle and Anthony Long, nephew of club great Michael Long, all expected to play.
Geelong has welcomed back stars Gary Ablett, Steve Johnson, Cameron Ling, Andrew Mackie, Cameron Mooney, Joel Selwood and Harry Taylor but its pre-season rotation policy will sideline Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright and James Kelly for the game against the Brisbane Lions.
Lions Brownlow medalist Simon Black will line up for his first game of the year, as will defender Josh Drummond.
Jed Adcock, Daniel Rich, Brent Staker, Daniel Merrett and Matthew Leuenberger also return for their second pre-season hitout after being rested for last Friday’s practice match against Carlton.
Richmond will field a skeleton side in its NAB Challenge match against Collingwood this week.
Recruit Dustin Martin has been rested after starring in the Tigers’ first couple of pre-season matches. Joining Martin on the sidelines will be Brett Deledio, Ben Cousins, Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin, Chris Newman, Robin Nahas, Richard Tamblind and Nathan Foley.
Collingwood forward John Anthony has been brought in for in for first game of the year, as has American recruit Seamus McNamara. Skipper Paul Medhurst, Luke Ball, Darren Jolly, Sharrod Wellingham, Tarkyn Lockyer, Travis Cloke and skipper Nick Maxwell have also been brought into the side.
Missing from the line-up are Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Leon Davis, Harry O’Brien, Scott Pendlebury, Heath Shaw, Dane Swan, Dale Thomas, Cameron Wood, Nathan Brown, Leigh Brown and Dayne Beams.
