There are five ANZAC Day contests across four divisions this Thursday, check out our preview of each game and all the ins and outs below.
AVONDALE HEIGHTS v ABERFELDIE
Thursday 2:30pm at Canning Reserve
Full squads
In: Jack Ziebell, Brody Watts, Joshua Browne, Jack Murphy, Zayas Leonedas, Lucas Thompson, Jesse Lafauci, Darcy Tarczon.
Out: Matthew Cravino, Ethan Guy, Thomas Clark, Jacob Cutri, Jack Stratford.
In: Benjamin Smokrovic, Josh Misiti, Jayden Nguyen, Jordan Lombardo, Darby Scott.
Out: Tim Currie, Jack Middleton.
ANZAC Day action returns to Canning Reserve when Avondale Heights play host to Aberfeldie.
Aberfeldie holds a strong record in this traditional clash winning nine of the 11 contests, with one win to Avondale Heights and a draw.
Justin Morris is the only player named for tomorrow who ran out in that win in 2015, while he, Tom Russell, and Brad and Jackson Robb played in the draw in 2018.
Both sides have had good signs out of their first two weeks of action with Aberfeldie coming away with two strong wins, while Avondale Heights started their season off with a win against Greenvale.
New faces have shone for both sides but the player everyone will be keeping an eye on will be Jack Ziebell.
He’ll run out for the Heights in his first game since retiring from the top level but will no doubt provide an air of excitement for his teammates and fans alike.
The two blues have looked to step up a notch from an inconsistent 2023 and will be hoping they can register yet another triple-figure score to start the season.
TULLAMARINE v KEILOR PARK
Thursday 2:15pm at Leo Dineen Reserve
Full squads
In: Joshua Cowell, Kirk Lang, Luke Rowland, Patrick Taylor, Lachlan Hind, Daniel Pearson, Adam Bartrop.
Out: James Vistarini, Darcy Browning-Hull, Scott Liversidge, Ethan Berger.
In: Tristan Borg, Riley Bentley, Colby Blyth, Jordan Reynolds, Ravin Willara, Blake Aggelis, James Ficarra, Oscar Sharpe.
Out: Brock Jacobsen, Cooper Bryant, Kyall Parker, Joel Pickering, Trent Coles, Jordan Filakis.
Tullamarine and Keilor Park will each be searching for their first win of the season when they play at Leo Dineen Reserve, in what’ll be the first senior men’s game back at the venue since the 2022 season.
The Demons played their first game of the season after a Round 1 bye and went down to Oak Park.
They stayed within reach but with Oak Park playing their third game of the season, Tulla couldn’t quite get over the top of them.
With a game under their belt, the Dee’s will be keen to kickstart their season.
Keilor Park will hit the park for the fourth time this season and have been inconsistent across three losses.
It was a tough start on Good Friday against Hillside, a strong finish in a close loss to Roxy, and a tale of two halves against Rupo.
There have been signs of optimism throughout each of their games as Leigh Coles will be hoping they can pull together a four-quarter performance.
COBURG DISTRICTS v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS
Thursday 2:15pm at Cole Reserve
Full squads
In: John Lindon, Michael Bidois, Lewis Johnson, Lucas Kyriazis.
Out: Rusi Komaitai, Jasper Lynch.
In: Jordan Hughes, Ethan Dalla Rosa, Marcus D'Angelo, Theo Sapountzis, Aidan Walgers.
Out: Matt Romeo, Hayden Da Cruz.
After a scintillating ANZAC Eve clash last season, Coburg Districts and Burnside Heights will move to ANZAC Day and face each other at Cole Reserve.
The Lions took a 10-point win in that game but both sides will look very different with new Coburg Districts coach Charlie Denaro introducing new personnel, and a raft of talls dominating for Cole Harvey’s Bears.
Districts have split their two games with their most recent being a loss to Westmeadows following an abysmal day in front of goal.
They kicked 5.18 and will need to tidy that up with Burnside Heights spearheads regularly booting majors.
Daniel Hovey has kicked four goals in each game with Nick Gregson and Jaydon Stiles proving their ability to impact the scoreboard.
The Bears have been impressive in their two wins and have a chance to go three and zip.
GLENROY v WESTMEADOWS
Thursday 2:15pm at Sewell Reserve
Full squads
In: Nasir Kodi, Omar Taleb.
Out: Daniel Sebeh, Zain Yassin.
In: Corey McCawley, Rylee Pearson.
Out: Kieran Gallagher, Reilly Holmes.
Glenroy and Westmeadows complete the ANZAC Day contests for the men at Sewell Reserve.
The Roys started their season with a tough loss to Hadfield while Westmeadows enters this game unbeaten with two wins.
The Tigers were dominant in their first game against East Sunbury and escaped with the four points against a wayward Coburg Districts, but it doesn’t matter how you get them as Ash Flavel’s young group will be full of confidence.
Glenroy were a game behind in terms of appearances so while they may have been disappointed with the loss first up, they’ll look to build on a game they were in the mix for throughout the four quarters.
The last time these sides met, Westy took care of business with an 84-point win.
TULLAMARINE v KEILOR PARK
Thursday 9:40am at Leo Dineen Reserve
Full squads
In: Beth Dore, Jessica Mona.
Out: nil.
In: Emily Laidlaw, Kylie Garth, Makenzie Carr, Destiny Eustace.
Out: Jessie Hazledine-Onno, Lidia Vancea, Alyx Wilkinson, Olivia Koch.
Tullamarine and Keilor Park highlight the ANZAC Day action in the women’s competitions when they play Thursday morning at Leo Dineen Reserve.
The Dees are sitting 1-1 with the Devils searching for their first win.
Keilor Park have faced strong opposition in Airport West and Greenvale while Tulla battled valiantly against early flag favourites Burnside Heights.
The Devils will need to find more avenues to goal to kick a winning score against Tulla after kicking just the two goals in each game thus far.
For Tulla, Kiara Talbot kicked four goals in their first game of the season but with the Dee’s managing one goal in their last outing, they’d love for her to fire up.
