Western Bulldogs forward Stewart Crameri's frustrating season has suffered another hiccup, with an ankle injury relegating him to the sidelines for the Bulldogs' important clash against a bolstered Brisbane Lions outfit at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
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The Bulldogs have however regained teenage prodigy Marcus Bontempelli from an adductor complaint and tagger Liam Picken from hamstring tightness. Lin Jong's decline in recent weeks after his strong start to the campaign has led to his omission.
While the Bulldogs have enjoyed somewhat of renaissance under new coach Luke Beveridge, Crameri has not enjoyed the spoils as much as others, kicking just 10 goals from nine appearances. He missed the Dogs' upset victory over Greater Western Sydney in round nine with an adductor ailment, and after with last week's bye will have played just one game in a month at the conclusion of round 12.
The Bulldogs have won just one of their past five games after they shot out of the gates to start 4-1 under Beveridge.
The Lions return from their mid-season break buoyed by the return of former captain Jed Adock, midfielder Jack Redden and key forward Daniel McStay. Young trio Liam Dawson. Harris Andrews and Sam Mayes have been left out.
There are big-name inclusions at Carlton and North Melbourne. At the Blues, Bryce Gibbs is back to play his first game under caretaker coach John Barker after overcoming a back injury, while Chris Yarran also to returns to face Port Adelaide having served time in the VFL on disciplinary grounds. Jason Tutt has been dropped, while Chris Judd is on the 'outs' list for for the final time after his retirement last week.
The Power make five changes, with Matt White and Paul Stewart out with hamstring injuries, and Tom Clurey, Sam Gray and Aaron Young all left out. Defender Jackson Trengove is back, along with Kane Mitchell, Andrew Moore, Brendon Ah Chee and Nathan Krakouer - who has again been promoted from the rookie list.
The Kangaroos regain Nick Dal Santo from the veteran's longest AFL absence in over a decade, with the former Saint included alongside Shaun Atley to take on the Giants on Saturday. Ryan Bastinac and Scott McMahon have both been dropped.
GWS have made six changes to the side that lost to Collingwood last Sunday. In addition to their four key players who miss through injury, James Stewart and Will Hoskin-Elliott have been chopped. Aidan Corr, Rhys Palmer and ruck pair Andrew Phillips and Rory Lobb join debutants Jack Steele and Caleb Marchbank in Leon Cameron's side.
West Coast have named key backman Jeremy McGovern to face Richmond on Friday night despite injury concerns, with midfielder Matt Rosa in to play for the first time since round four. Veteran Sam Butler is out with soreness.
Melbourne forward Chris Dawes is set to play his first game since round seven when the Demons take on Geelong on Sunday at Simonds Stadium. Dawes will fill the void of Cameron Pedersen who broke his wrist last Sunday against St Kilda. Jake Spencer, Rohan Bail, Matt Jones and Dean Terlich are all on an extended Melbourne bench, with Jack Grimes the other man out, sidelined with a thumb injury.
