See the full team here to take on St Kilda.
Melbourne will unleash six new players for its season opener against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Midfielders Daniel Cross, Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and Viv Michie will make their debut for Melbourne, and defender Alex Georgiou and small forward Jay Kennedy-Harris will play their first AFL match.
After several years where the Dees have been seen as the whipping boys of the AFL, team Manager of football Josh Mahoney hoped they could add an extra spark to the side.
“When we spoke to a lot of those players about coming to the club, part of the discussion was about opportunity,” he said.
“They all got an opportunity in the NAB Challenge and all have performed well, so they’ve all earned their position for round one.”
But as expected, key forwards Mitch Clark (personal leave/calf), Chris Dawes (calf) and Jesse Hogan (back) are sidelined, along with leader Garland (ankle), ruckman Mark Jamar (foot) and midfield recruit Aidan Riley (leg) are missing from the opening round.
Round one Melbourne team
B: Dean Terlich, James Frawley, Jack Grimes
HB: Lynden Dunn, Tom McDonald, Bernie Vince
C: Jimmy Toumpas, Jack Watts, Dom Tyson
HF: Rohan Bail, Jack Fitzpatrick, Daniel Cross
F: Shannon Byrnes, Cam Pedersen, Jeremy Howe
FOLL: Jake Spencer, Nathan Jones, Jack Trengove
I/C: Viv Michie, Matt Jones, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Alex Georgiou
EMG: Daniel Nicholson, Sam Blease, Michael Evans
NEW: Daniel Cross (Western Bulldogs), Alex Georgiou (Norwood), Jay Kennedy-Harris (Oakleigh Chargers), Viv Michie (Fremantle), Dom Tyson (Greater Western Sydney), Bernie Vince (Adelaide)
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