All the latest AFL round 16 team news as Demons swing the axe ahead of Suns clash

Simon Goodwin has swung the axe at the Demons, with three high-profile names - including Jake Lever - cut. Plus the Pies confirm a debutant. See the full teams news.

Melbourne has made a shock selection call, dropping defender Jake Lever as one of three unforced changes.

The Demons will travel to Gold Coast to face the Suns, but Lever is one of three omissions for the clash.

Caleb Windsor and Jacob van Rooyen have both been dropped and replaced by Matt Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Harry Sharp.

Gold Coast has made just one change, dropping last week’s substitute Nick Holman for Alex Sexton.

The Western Bulldogs have recalled Jason Johannisen and Ryley Sanders to replace the injured Adam Treloar and the omitted Josh Dolan for Friday’s clash against the Swans.

Meanwhile Sydney has recalled Jake Lloyd and Ollie Florent for Joel Amartey, who is injured, and Riley Bice.

North Melbourne has lost Charlie Comben to injury and will replace the star defender with Wil Dawson.

Hawthorn has also made just one change, dropping Henry Hustwaite for Cam Mackenzie, meaning Jack Scrimshaw will play VFL again after being managed earlier this month.

Collingwood has handed key forward Charlie West a debut after kicking six goals, including one after the siren to win, in the VFL last week.

Charlie Dean also comes in to replace the injured pair of Billy Frampton and Beau McCreery.

West Coast will be without Oscar Allen for the game, and the rest of the season, and the captain has been replaced by Jobe Shanahan for his debut.

Tyrrel Dewar is also out with injury, replaced by Brady Hough.

SUNDAY SQUADS

Fremantle is set to recall Sean Darcy after managing his workload against Essendon.

Darcy sat out the game due to the five-day break, but has been named on the extended bench for Fremantle.

St Kilda has managed Jimmy Webster for the clash, with Liam Henry a chance to feature in his first senior game since his omission earlier in the season.

Luke Pedlar is out with injury but Adelaide will welcome back James Peatling after the gun recruit served his suspension.

Richmond has not made any changes for the clash against the Crows, with James Trezise, Mykelti Lefau and Jacob Blight named on the extended bench.

Coach Adem Yze confirmed on Thursday that Sam Lalor was close to being cleared to play, but will likely return via the VFL after missing the squad.

BLUES, PORT SWING AXES AFTER HORROR SHOWS

– Matthew Forrest

Carlton has named Patrick Cripps to face Port Adelaide on Thursday night despite the skipper’s illness causing him to miss training.

The two-time Brownlow medallist was on the sidelines on Wednesday in Adelaide as the team completed its captain’s run.

But despite his absence, coach Michael Voss has named Cripps to line up alongside debutants Billy Wilson and Flynn Young.

The Blues have made four changes, dropping Corey Durdin, Marc Pittonet, Jaxon Binns and Matt Carroll for the clash with the Power, with Jordan Boyd and Lewis Young earning a recall.

Jacob Weitering has also been named to play, with Voss joking on Wednesday all he needed to do was “stand upright” in order to be named.

He said that Cripps missing training was precautionary.

“He was ill today, but expected to play, so he’ll be right to go,” he said on Wednesday.

“He’s not at training because he was feeling a bit off, so obviously we don’t want him around the main group.”

Port Adelaide also made four changes, all unforced, with Jackson Mead, Jeremy Finlayson, Ryan Burton and Christian Moraes all omitted.

Aliir Aliir, Logan Evans, Hugh Jackson and Travis Boak have all returned to the senior side.

SICILY TO FACE MINOR PROCEDURE ON HIP

— Ed Bourke

Hawthorn captain James Sicily has undergone “a minor procedure” on his hip to address the nerve issue which affected his form in the first half of the year.

Sicily was on the track for the start of the Hawks’ training session at Waverley Park on Thursday as coach Sam Mitchell refused to rule out his return against North Melbourne on Saturday.

But Mitchell said the star defender was given treatment during the bye which had given the Hawks a clearer picture of the issue affecting his strength and power through the hip and abdominal area.

The club said it was not a surgical procedure.

“(Sicily) has obviously been dealing with the ‘nervy’ hip thing … we’ve got a bit more of our head around it, he had a minor procedure which sorted out a big proportion of it,” Mitchell said.

“Will he get up for this week? Training will tell us more about that, but it’s definitely been beneficial for him.”

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James Sicily at Hawthorn training on Thursday. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Playing in a far taller backline this season alongside recruits Tom Barrass and Josh Battle, Sicily’s form was put under the microscope after the Hawks’ loss to Port Adelaide in round 5, which began a stretch of high-turnover games.

Mitchell said last month that criticism of Sicily’s kicking had been a “storm in a teacup” after he went at 100 per cent efficiency in the consecutive defeats to Brisbane and Collingwood.

But in those two games, the Hawks skipper cumulatively gained only 167m, confining himself to mostly kicking backwards and sideways.

The All-Australian defender was put on ice after the Magpies loss so he had an extra fortnight to recover leading into Hawthorn’s bye.

Mitchell said he was excited to see key forward Mitchell Lewis return from a knee reconstruction for Box Hill this weekend after managing only four senior games in the last two years.

The 26-year-old booted 73 goals in 30 games during the 2022-23 seasons, and Mitchell indicated he was eager to explore a tall forward mix of Lewis, Mabior Chol and Calsher Dear if he had a chance to select the trio all at once later in the season.

The coach said rotating one of the trio through the ruck, along with interchange rotations, meant the trio would all be inside forward 50 only for “about 30 per cent” of the game.

“I think everyone’s watched a bit of Adelaide this year with the genuine three, big tall (forwards) and thought there’s something about what they’re doing that’s pretty good … it doesn’t look clunky at all, they look really smooth the way they move the ball,” Mitchell said.

“They’re probably giving us a bit of insight into what it looks like, but as far as selection goes, you’re always going to push that can down the road, because you never know who is going to be available and when.”

Former best and fairest, and out-of-contract midfielder, James Worpel (corked quad) joined Sicily in the main training session as he firmed for a return against the Kangaroos.

Originally published as All the latest AFL round 16 team news as Demons swing the axe ahead of Suns clash