The Blues have made three changes to their side from the last-gasp win against Merrivale, bringing back the two important key defensive pillars, with small forward Jason Lee also back to strengthen the front half.

"Those three will definitely strengthen the side a bit," he said.

"We were undersized last week in defence, we had a lot of guys playing taller, and while we held up well it'll be nice to have those guys back to hold key posts.

"We needed defensive solidity and we noticed that last week (against Merrivale)."

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Harkness added small forward Lee would add plenty to the forward half with the expected conditions.

"The conditions will suit him. It's an important role that small forward position and we know what he's going to bring," he said.

Russells Creek coach Danny Chatfield said the club was excited to throw youngster Macauley Clark a senior debut in the blockbuster in what is the only change to the stable-looking team.

"We'll try and blood as many kids as possible, especially coming off COVID, so he'll sub for us and get his crack," he said.

Chatfield said Clark was a big-bodied utility capable of playing in various positions.

"We can swing him forward, we can swing him back, and we'll just play him wherever he feels comfortable on the day," he said.

"We'll decide where that is on Saturday."

Old Collegians has made one forced change to its line-up in the winnable clash against Timboon Demons, with important defender Jonah Bowles to miss with a knee injury.

"It's not a structural injury, but there's some ligament damage in there that we're hoping to get some clarity on in the next few days," coach Ben van de Camp said.

"It's unfortunate, he's played some good footy particularly over the last two, three weeks. We're not sure of the extent so it could be anywhere from four to 12 weeks."

Van de Camp said aside from Bowles, Sam Davis, who fractured his cheekbone in the opening round, was still a while away but was hopeful some more senior players could return in coming weeks.

Kolora-Noorat has been forced into make upwards of four changes, with the potential for a fifth for this week's clash against Merrivale.

On a bright note, the Power will welcome back star Jason Moloney.

"It is great to have him back, his leadership and what he brings is valuable," Power mentor Nick Bourke said.

"Especially this week against Merrivale."

The Power have also added Sam Boyd in, a recruit from Leopold who will slot straight down into full-forward, as well as premiership player Paul McSween and youngster Jack Vaughan.

The side will, however, be without some serious quality with Justin Wallace, Nick Marshall, Jeremy Larcombe and Luke McConnelll all missing through COVID or unavailability.

Old Collegians v Timboon Demons

Old Collegians

B: E.Barker, M.Crosier, J.Cust

HB: K.Bidmade, H.Hall, E.Dawson

C: A.Grant, D.Gleeson, J.Dunne

HF: L.Dickson, H.White, N.Wallace

F: M.Lenehan, J.Brooks, B.England

R: M.Riddell, T.Lewis, C.Barby

Int: I.Williams, J.Wallace, J.Nyikos, J.Malone

Timboon Demons

No team submitted

Allansford v Dennington

Allansford

B: Harry Searle, Ben Carlin, Brent Fedley

HB: Brett Hunger, Robbie Hare, Jack McGee

C: Connor Bellman, Mitch Gristede, Joby Baker

HF: Travis Membrey, Rhys Buck, Zavier Mungean

F: Ben Lenehan, Lachie Lusher, Cooper Day

R: Zach Jamieson, Brad Edge, Kalin Jans

INT: Cooper McLean, Nanda Murdila, Damien Wynd, Tyler Mungean, Luke Nowell, Steve Kilpatrick

Dennington

B: T.Lee, D.Threlfall, J.Turner

HB: G.Serra, L.Campbell-Gavin, L.Pearson

C: J.Noonan, T.Fitzgerald, E.Dowd

HF: J.Stapleton, J.Brown, J.Lock

F: B.Thornton, M.Craig, T.Noonan

R: B.Baker, R.Barling, S.Curtis

Int: C.Remine, C.Simms, T.Noonan, J.Garner

Kolora-Noorat v Merrivale

Kolora-Noorat

B: R.O'Connor, S.O'Connor, J.Dillon

HB: P.McSween, N.Bourke, L.Tebble

C: J.Moloney, B.O'Sullivan, J.Moloney

HF: B.Reid, N.Castersen, B.Fraser

F: P.Baker, H.Darcy, S.Boyd

R: S.Judd, F.Beasley, S.Kenna

Int: J.Carlin, J.Vaughan, T.Henderson, G.Beasley

Merrivale

B: Oliver Watson, James Fary, Wilson Lenehan

HB: Kyden Jarvis, Dylan Scoble, Oliver Doukas

C: Josh Sobey, Colby Rix, Liam Nagle

HF: Bradley Bell, Manny Sandow, Jack Neave

F: Nathan Krepp, Sean Barnes, Tyler Stephens

R: Matt Haulser, Jack Gleeson, Blair McCutcheon

Int: Jye Wilson, Todd McLean, Luke Byrne, Jaxon Keay, Jayden Brooks, Angus Campbell

Panmure v South Rovers

Panmure

B: J Norton, N Keane, J Taylor

HB: M Kenny, L Hynes, W Pomorin

C: M Colbert, P Mahony, L Kew

HF: B Purcell, J Moloney, T Mahony

F: S Mahony, Z Reeves, T Wright

R: D Roache, L McLeod, B Gedye

Int: I Sinnott, L Bishop, M Kelly D Bourke

South Rovers

B: Sam Wilde, Tom Wilson, Eamon Dowd

HB: Jake Bacon, Simon Tindall, Nathan Murphy

C: Sandon Williams, Kurt Lenehand, Trent Harman

HF: Aaron Seabrook, Jaxen Dalton, Ty Wood

F: Jack Dowd, Tim Ryan, Ben Oates

R: Tom Bowman, Justin Fedley, Dylan Cox

INT: Harry Boyd, Brendan White, Cody Mailes, Joseph Higgins, Patrick Higgins, Miles Picken

Nirranda v Russells Creek

Nirranda

B: C.Wagstaff, L.Weel, B.McCann

HB: M.Lloyd, R.Nutting

C: A.Rosolin, D.Willsher, D.Philp

HF: J.Spokes, J.Willsher, D.Craven

F: J.Lee, J.Stacey, D.Lees

R: J.Paulin, H.Giblin, E.Harvey-Cleary

Int: A.Lane, L.Irving, J.Folkes

Russells Creek

B: M. Rook, C. Bourke, D Finlayson

HB: T.Wason, L.McKane, D.Herbertson

C: C.Templeton, B.Rudland Castles, S.Alberts

HF: S.Grinter, T.Smith, Z.Timms

F: J Chatfield, B.McPhee, B.Hewett

R: D.Burns, D.Nicholson, P.Chatfield

Int: J.Forthbligh, O.Everall, J.Lindford

Sub: Macauley Clark

*All teams are submitted by clubs

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