Key posts
Rankine’s value to the Crows
Adelaide’s fresh kit
No late changes: Crows, Blues. Subs named
Teams: Lever fails fitness test, Riewoldt returns, Ginnivan in selected squad
Jake Lever has failed to overcome an ankle injury and is one of three outs for Melbourne in their clash against Essendon.
Lever, Michael Hibberd (managed) and James Jordon (sub) are all out from the side which beat the Eagles, and Adam Tomlinson will return, as well as key forward Ben Brown.
Will Snelling is in for the Bombers, with Alwyn Davey jnr rested and Sam Weideman injured.
Jake Lever.Credit: Getty Images
Jack Riewoldt returns for the Tigers in their clash with the Swans, as does Ben Miller who has been pencilled in for the ruck duties, covering the injured Toby Nankervis.
Corey Warner will make his debut alongside brother Chad, while Hayden McLean and Matt Roberts have also been selected.
The Lions welcome back Daniel Rich and Darcy Fort for their match against North Melbourne, while Ben McKay and Griffin Logue return to bolster the Roos’ defence. Jack Gunston has been managed.
Cody Weightman will play his first game for the Dogs this season, against Port Adelaide who welcome Ryan Burton back from suspension.
Meanwhile, Geelong have omitted Gary Rohan, explaining their decision to abandon their tribunal appeal against his one-match ban for a dangerous tackle.
Sam De Koning will be a welcome return in defence for that match against the Eagles, while Jed Bews will miss with injury.
Shannon Hurn (managed), Tom Cole (injured) and Elijah Hewett (omitted) will miss, while Alex Witherden is one of a number of Eagles named in an extended squad for that match on Sunday.
The Giants and Hawks have named extended squads for their match on Sunday, as have Collingwood and St Kilda, with the Pies naming Jack Ginnivan in an eight-man interchange. Tim Membrey has also been named for St Kilda in an extended bench.
Watch: Who is Eddie Betts barracking for?
AFL clubs set for bumper salary cap boost from ‘Gather Round’
By Jake Niall
All 18 AFL clubs have been given an extra half-million dollars in their salary caps as a result of the huge influx of money stemming from the extra game in Gather Round.
Senior AFL sources confirmed that the 18 clubs would receive $750,000 each for Gather Round in South Australia and that, of that amount, $500,000 would go to the players at every club – potentially easing some of the fiscal and salary-cap pressure on players and clubs.
Premier of South Australia Peter Malinauskas with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan at the launch of Gather Round at Adelaide Oval.Credit: AFL Photos
They said the players would be paid on a pro-rata basis, meaning that every player would get paid in proportion to his 2023 salary.
The clubs would spend the remaining $250,000 on football staff, with the AFL boosting the soft cap on football department spending by that amount. The soft cap had been slashed from nearly $10 million before the pandemic to between $7 million and $8 million in 2023.
Will Day’s two-game ban stands
By Scott Spits and Peter Ryan
Hawthorn’s Will Day has lost his case at the AFL Tribunal, his rough conduct charge against Geelong’s Brad Close deemed as high impact and sufficient for a two-match ban.
Day will miss Hawthorn’s matches on the road against the GWS Giants (Norwood Oval) and Adelaide (in Launceston).
Will Day has failed in his appeal of a two-match ban for a dangerous tackle.Credit: Getty Images
Close’s head was thrust into the ground by the sling tackle.
Hawthorn were only seeking to challenge the impact classification of the incident, which happened shortly after a centre bounce in the Easter Monday clash against Geelong.
But AFL tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC ruled that the risk of injury for Close was significant.
Opinion: The ridiculous loophole the AFL needs to close
By Kane Cornes
Barry Breen has the most famous kick in Australian football. His “Hail Mary” wobbly punt kick late in the 1966 VFL grand final broke the deadlock against Collingwood with the most decisive behind ever scored.
To this day, it remains St Kilda’s only premiership-winning kick.
Barry Breen kicks the winning point to land St Kilda their only flag
Yet, if the game was loaded with statisticians and analysts as it is today, Breen’s kick would be classified as “ineffective” … because it did not register a goal, the supposed true objective of any kick at goal.
Same with Tony Lockett for that after-the-siren behind that sunk Essendon in the 1996 preliminary final at the SCG. Sometimes a miss with a kick at goal is just as effective to the team’s objective as a Malcolm Blight bomb that scores a goal after time is called at Princes Park.
Welcome to Gather Round!
Hello and thanks for joining us for tonight’s blog of the opening match of Gather Round, Adelaide against Carlton at the Adelaide Oval.
Damien Ractliffe here to take you through all the action.
This is going to be a blockbuster, given Adelaide’s improved form on last season and the Blues’ finals aspirations.
