Richmond axe ruckman Maric in AFL

Richmond have dumped ruckman Ivan Maric and defender David Astbury for Friday night’s AFL fixture against Hawthorn.

The Tigers, who have been beaten in five consecutive games, also lost captain Trent Cotchin (fractured cheekbone) and Kayne Lambert (punctured lung) for the MCG match, recalling Ben Griffiths, Kamdyn McIntosh, Nick Vlastuin and Jayden Short.

The Hawks named Kaiden Brand for his AFL debut and summoned Will Langford and Billy Hartung as replacements for skipper Luke Hodge (knee), defender James Frawley (concussion) and Kieran Lovell (omitted).

Collingwood dropped defender Nathan Brown for Saturday’s game against long-time rivals Carlton and were unable to consider Tom Langdon (ankle) and Ben Sinclair (concussion).

The Magpies named Jesse White, James Aish and first-gamer Ben Crocker to face the Blues, who also made three changes – recalling Andrew Walker, Patrick Cripps and Andrejs Everitt as replacements for young gun Jacob Weitering (shoulder), Andrew Phillips (hamstring) and Nick Graham (omitted.

Geelong also swung the selection axe for their home match on Saturday against West Coast, omitting Nathan Vardy, Jake Kolodjashnij and Jed Bews in favour of experienced backman Andrew Mackie, ruckman Rhys Stanley and Tom Ruggles.

The Eagles, seeking their first win in Geelong since 2006, replaced the injured Sam Butler (groin) with Elliot Yeo.

Sydney dropped Kenyan Aliir Aliir just a week after his AFL debut, favouring Nick Smith for their SCG clash with Essendon, who made five changes.

The Bombers rested emerging star Darcy Parish and Kyle Langford, dropped Sam Grimely and Martin Gleeson and lost Matthew Stokes to a hamstring strain. Ex-Kangaroo Nathan Grima and ex-Swan Craig Bird are among the inclusions.

Melbourne lost two players to concussion – Heritier Lumumba and Christian Salem – for their away trip to play Gold Coast, with Lynden Dunn and Sam Frost both omitted.

The Demons recalled Colin Garland, Clayton Oliver, Billy Stretch and upgraded rookie Viv Michie, while the Suns made three changes, with Adam Saad, Jarrod Garlett and debutant Darcy MacPherson named in place of Ryan Davis (omitted), Trent McKenzie (ankle) and Mackenzie Willis (omitted).

Meanwhile, Greater Western Sydney named an unchanged side for the first time in the club’s history for Saturday night’s away fixture against Fremantle, who dumped Brady Grey, Zac Clarke and Darcy Tucker.

And Adelaide made two changes for their Saturday night away date with the Western Bulldogs, losing Rory Laird (toe) and dropping Jarryd Lyons and summoning Brad Crouch and Ricky Henderson.

The Dogs recalled Jack Redpath and Caleb Daniel to replace Koby Stevens and Lin Jong (omitted).

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