Sheezel and Eagles trio to debut, Mackenzie debut wait, Humphrey ‘still a week or two away’ and Milera good to go

There was a stack of player news on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s season opener, with updates on Harry Sheezel, Cam Mackenzie, Fergus Greene, Touk Miller, Bailey Humphrey and Wayne Milera and plenty of others.

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North Melbourne has officially announced that prized recruit Harry Sheezel (AF $296k SC $198k FWD) will make his debut in round one against West Coast on Saturday afternoon. “North Melbourne’s first selection of the 2022 National Draft, Harry Sheezel, will make his AFL debut on Saturday against West Coast in the side’s season-opener at Marvel Stadium.”

West Coast also announced a trio of debutants, with Reuben Ginbey (AF $284k SC $171k D/M), Campbell Chesser (AF $200k SC $124k D/M) and Noah Long (AF $200k SC $117k M/F) all to make their debuts against North Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. Jayden Hunt (AF $379k SC $286k DEF) will also make his club debut. “Three of the club’s emerging stars have been selected to make their senior debut against the Roos while former Demon Jayden Hunt will play his first game in blue and gold.”

Even though Hawthorn have not named any debutants this weekend (note they do play on Sunday), they look set to name a couple for their round 1 clash against Essendon. Pick 7 from last year’s draft, Cam Mackenzie (AF $288k SC $180k MID) is expected to make his debut, along with delisted free agent Fergus Greene (AF $200k SC $124k FWD). Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said they will see some new faces in their team this weekend. “We don’t play until Sunday so we’ll have a couple of extra days of training and we’ll do selection on Thursday. We’ll obviously have some players that are debuting for Hawthorn, but whether or not we have some players who are debuting, we’ll find out later in the week.”

In Gold Coast’s official injury report, captain Touk Miller (AF $972k SC $662k MID) has fully recovered from his hamstring injury and will play in Gold Coast’s round 1 game against Sydney on Saturday night, but it looks like new rookie Bailey Humphrey (AF $290k SC $185k M/F) is still a week or two away after missing their second practice match because of a foot injury. Gold Coast Head Physiotherapist Lindsay Bull said that Humphrey will be on a modified program as he builds towards a potential debut. “Bailey is doing well, he started running again this week and he is progressing really nicely so he’ll be back in the next week or so.” Lachie Weller is also a week or two away from being available for selection, which could impact Charlie Constable (AF $332k SC $124k D/M).

If you were considering Tarryn Thomas (AF $475k SC $296k M/F) for your starting side, you can cross him off, as he is set to play another practice game in the VFL this weekend as North Melbourne continues to work through his off field issues. North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson also said Tarryn needs to work on some things before being available for selection. “He needs to go through a process of what he committed to in terms of going through a program around respect and responsibility and identifying some things .We’ve also got to tick some boxes in terms of match conditioning and getting him back doing the training, getting himself fit enough now to be able to play on a regular basis in the AFL season.”

Western Bulldogs young forward Arthur Jones (AF $200k SC $124k FWD) has been ruled out, along with Cody Weightman for their round 1 clash against Melbourne on Saturday night. Jones and Weightman not being there could potentially impact Toby McLean (AF $401k SC $179k M/F) and his role in round 1.

Brisbane has ruled out Dayne Zorko (AF $731k SC $453k FWD), along with Darcy Gardiner and Callum Ah Chee for their twilight clash against Port Adelaide. This could potentially open up even more space for both Darcy Wilmot (AF $200k SC $124k DEF) and Conor McKenna (AF $379k SC $168k DEF) to be in Brisbane’s round 1 team.

Richmond released their injury report, with star players Jayden Short (AF $867k SC $544k MID), Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch will all be available for the season opener against Carlton on Thursday night.

Wayne Milera (AF $441k SC $321k FWD) looks set to start in Adelaide’s round 1 team, but could be a risky pick after missing the last practice game against West Coast. Adelaide assistant coach Scott Burns seems confident Milera can make an impact straight away. “Wayne should be back tomorrow. He’s been away for 10 days for private reasons. He got the Fremantle game, 8 quarters. He’s been clocking up numbers with running. He’s in a good spot to hit Round 1. He’s had a terrific preseason, hasn’t missed a beat. This could actually be a blessing in disguise, just going away for a week and not getting knocked around.”