AFL 2018 round 1: Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats; Match preview and teams

WILL HE OR WON’T HE? Well that question was answered on Thursday as Patrick Dangerfield was ruled out of playing in the Cats’ round one clash with the Demons at the MCG this Sunday due to a hamstring injury. Gary Ablett who rejoined the Cats in the summer also had a hamstring complaint but will definitely line up. Joining Ablett as ‘new’ players are Tim Kelly, Esava Ratugolea and Lachie Fogarty though all three were initially named on the seven man interchange. Charlie Constable was also named in the initial squad of 28 but didn’t make the final cut. Rhys Stanley was originally named at centre half forward but was also left out, replaced at CHF by Ratugolea.

The Demons named two newbies in Jake Lever and Bayley Fritsch – Lever recruited in the off-season from Adelaide, presumably not wanting to be associated with the Crows again after their Grand Final embarrassment against Richmond. Skipper Joel Selwood will play his 250th game while Cory Gregson returns after not playing a game in 2017 due to a horror run of injuries. No Nakia Cockatoo though, he has had a calf complaint but was pronounced fit earlier in the week. In a quirk we will take a while to get used to there are now four emergencies being named, in the past it’s been three.

AFL ROUND 1 2018
MELBOURNE DEMONS V GEELONG CATS
SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018, 15:20 AEST
MCG

GEELONG CATS
MELBOURNE DEMONS

IN: TBA
OUT: TBA

NEW: Gary Ablett (Gold Coast Suns), Tim Kelly, Esava Ratugolea, Lachie Fogarty

IN: –
OUT: –

NEW: Jake Lever, Bayley Fritsch

 

GEELONG CATS
MELBOURNE DEMONS

IN: –
OUT: –

NEW
Gary Ablett (Gold Coast Suns), Tim Kelly, Esava Ratugolea, Lachie Fogarty

IN: –
OUT: –

NEW: Jake Lever, Bayley Fritsch

B: J Kolodjashnij, H Taylor, Z Tuohy
HB: M Blicavs, S Stewart, J Bews
C: C Guthrie, J Selwood, M Duncan
HF: C Gregson, E Ratugolea, J Parsons
F: D Menzel, T Hawkins, B Parfitt
FOLL: Z Smith, G Ablett, S Menegola
IINT: T Kelly, M O’Connor, L Fogarty, Z Guthrie
EMER: 
C Constable, J Cunico, J Murdoch, R Stanley
B: Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Neville Jetta
HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Nathan Jones
C: Bernie Vince, Jordan Lewis, Christian Salem
HF: Christian Petracca, Cam Pedersen, James Harmes
F: Bayley Fritsch, Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett
FOLL: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Alex Neal-Bullen
INT: Jake Melksham, Mitch Hannan, Corey Maynard, Josh Wagner
EMER: Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson, Sam Frost, Tom Bugg

 

 

AUSTRALIAN TV COVERAGE (LOCAL TIMES)

Melbourne Seven / Fox Sports 3 (LIVE – 15:20)
Adelaide Seven / Fox Sports 3 (LIVE – 14:30)
Perth Fox Footy (LIVE – 12:00)
NSW (Sydney) Fox Footy (LIVE – 15:00)
Queensland (Brisbane) 7mate / Fox Sports 3 (LIVE – 14:00)
ACT Fox Sports 3 (LIVE – 15:00)
NT (Darwin) Southern Cross / Fox Footy (LIVE – 13:30)
Tasmania Southern Cross / Fox Sports 3 (LIVE – 15:00)

AFL RADIO COVERAGE (LOCAL TIMES)

Melbourne KROCK, MMM, 3AW, ABC
Adelaide MMM, 5AA, ABC
Perth ABC
Sydney –
Brisbane –
Canberra –
Darwin ABC, AFL Nation