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AFL makes its 2013 debut tonight with the opening of the NAB Cup as Collingwood, Essendon and Western Bulldogs go head-to-head in the preseason three-team game format. We’ll have live scores from 6.45pm AEDT and live blog from 7.50pm AEDT.
Another long off-season has been and gone and footy-starved fans get their first opportunity tonight to judge the fruits of what they hope will have been a prosperous summer training regime.
With the AFL season proper still a little over a month away, coaches will be reticent to show their hand too early in the piece and we should expect to see plenty of young players given an opportunity in the coming weeks.
After three months of a physically demanding preseason, players will be itching to finally get into a game situation and hoping to pick up some early season form.
In the opening two weeks of the NAB Cup, three teams will contest three 40-minute matches (two each team) and the festivities will kick off tonight between Essendon and Western Bulldogs in the opening match.
It’s been a shocking 10 days for the Essendon Football Club and in particular coach James Hird but tonight the club finally get to put off-field turmoil to one side and get back to what they know.
Former number-one draft pick Brendon Goddard will make his debut in Essendon colours after making the move from Moorabbin over the summer, while the Bombers also hand debuts to four of their six acquisitions from the 2012 AFL Draft.
Father-son pick Joe Daniher will not be part of that group of debutants, while reigning Brownlow Medallist Jobe Watson (quad) and David Zaharakis (groin) will also be absent.
After finishing 15th with a record of 5-17 in 2012, Western Bulldogs will be hoping to use tonight as a chance to get into a winning habit from the outset.
Coach Brendan McCartney has named a strong lineup while handing debuts to Nick Lower (Fremantle), Tom Young (Collingwood) and Brett Goodes, brother of Sydney Swans champion Adam, as well as number six draft pick Jackson Macrae.
Tonight will also mark the return of defender Dale Morris, who will play his first game since suffering a horrific broken leg in 2011.
Collingwood, who will take to the field in the second and third matches, have named a side featuring a host of off-season recruits and draft picks after a busy time at the trade table in 2012.
Former Eagles power forward Quentin Lynch will make his debut in the black and white as Nathan Buckley tries to replicate the ‘Leigh Brown effect’ that helped Collingwood to a flag in 2010.
Ben Hudson will play for his fourth AFL club after heading south from Brisbane, premiership player Clinton Young comes in from Hawthorn while Jordan Russell will play after making the switch from arch-rival Carlton.
Kyle Martin, Sam Dwyer and Jack Frost will all make their AFL debuts after being picked up as mature-age rookies from the VFL, and young ruckman Jarrod Witts will also see first-team experience for the Pies.
Dale Thomas and Luke Ball will both be absent from action tonight as they continue injury rehabilitation with a eye toward the AFL season proper.
Results will mean next to nothing for the three coaches tonight, but that’s not to say these matches aren’t important in the lead-in to round one.
All three teams experienced 2012 seasons that fell below expectations, and all three get the opportunity to begin rectifying that tonight. We’ll have live scores from 6.45pm AEDT and live commentary from 7.50pm AEDT.
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