AFTER a long summer and an exciting NAB Cup, which gave us a taste of footy we had all been longing for, Round 1 of the 2008 AFL Premiership Season is finally here.

Kicking off the round is the much awaited first
game for Chris Judd in the navy blue, when Carlton take on Richmond at
the MCG. After their 119 point thrashing of Port Adelaide in the 2007
Grand Final, Geelong travel to AAMI Stadium to try and sink Power fans hope once again in a Round 1 Grand Final
replay. Saturday afternoon sees Collingwood meeting Fremantle at the
MCG without their new captain Scott Burns.
NAB Cup winners St Kilda clash with Sydney at the Telstra Dome, while West Coast, without Judd and Cousins, take on the Brisbane Lions at Subiaco.
Sunday sees the Western Bulldogs take on Adelaide and Hawthorn take on the Demons.
Essendon and North Melbourne round out the weeks matches on Easter Monday.

CARLTON v RICHMOND
Thursday, 6:10pm AEST, MCG

CARLTON
B: Jamison, Houlihan, Thornton
HB: Grigg, Waite, Scotland
C: Gibbs, Judd, Simpson
HF: Hadley, Hartlett, Carrazzo
F: Betts, Fevola, O’hAilpin
FOLL: Cloke, Stevens, Murphy
I/C: Bannister, Bower, Edwards, Jackson
EM: Pfeiffer, Russell, Saddington
NEW: Jake Edwards – Selection No.36, 2005 AFL Draft from Western U18s

RICHMOND
B: King, Thursfield, Bowden
HB: Newman, Polak, Moore
C: Tambling, Tuck, Raines
HF: Pettifer, Richardson, McMahon
F: Deledio, Schulz, Brown
FOLL: Simmonds, Johnson, Foley
I/C: Jackson, Hughes, Pattison, Howat
EM: Hyde, Morton, Edwards

PORT ADELAIDE v GEELONG
Thursday, 8:10pm CST, AAMI Stadium

PORT ADELAIDE
B: Pettigrew, Carlile, Surjan
HB: P.Burgoyne, Thurstans, Cassisi
C: Boak, C.Cornes, K.Cornes
HF: Rodan, J.Westhoff, Pearce
F: D.Motlop, Tredrea, Ebert
FOLL: Lade, Salopek, S.Burgoyne
I/C: Brogan, Logan, Thomas, Stewart
EMG: Bentley, Lower, Deluca
NEW: Paul Stewart – Selection No.23, 2006 AFL Draft from Woodville-West Torrens

GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, Hunt
HB: Milburn, Mackie, Enright
C: Ling, Selwood, Bartel
HF: Chapman, Mooney, S.Johnson
F: Gamble, Hawkins, Stokes
FOLL: Blake, Ablett, Corey
I/C: West, Byrnes, Kelly, Tenace
EM: Taylor, D.Johnson, Prismall
NEW: Trent West – Selection No.31, 2005 NAB AFL Draft, from Gippsland U18s

COLLINGWOOD v FREMANTLE
Saturday, 2:10pm AEST, MCG

COLLINGWOOD
B: H.Shaw, Wakelin, Goldsack
HB: Maxwell, Brown, O’Brien
C: Didak, Pendlebury, Lockyer
HF: Clarke, Rocca, R.Shaw
F: Cloke, Rusling, Thomas
FOLL: Fraser, O’Bree, Davis
I/C: Wood, Egan, Medhurst, Swan
EMG: Cook, Reid, Toovey
NEW: Nathan Brown, Selection No.10, 2006 AFL Draft, from Ballarat U18s

FREMANTLE
B: Mark Johnson, Grover, Mundy
HB: Crowley, Michael Johnson, Hayden
C: Black, Headland, Peake
HF: Farmer, Pavlich, Solomon
F: McPharlin, Tarrant, Schammer
FOLL: Sandilands, J.Carr, Bell
I/C: Dodd, Gilmore, McManus, M.Carr
EMG: Warnock, Ibbotson, Palmer

ST KILDA v SYDNEY
Saturday, 7:10pm AEST, Telstra Dome

ST KILDA
B: Gram, Hudghton, Gilbert
HB: R.Clarke, S.Fisher, X.Clarke
C: Blake, Hayes, Montagna
HF: Harvey, Riewoldt, Schneider
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Gehrig
FOLL: King, Dal Santo, Ball
I/C: M.Gardiner, C.Gardiner, Jones, Geary
EMG: L.Fisher, Fiora, Birss
NEW: Jarryn Geary, 2007 Rookie List elevation, from Bendigo U18s

SYDNEY
B: Kennelly, Barry, Mattner
HB: C.Bolton, Roberts-Thomson, Jack
C: Buchanan, Kirk, McVeigh
HF: R.O’Keefe, O’Loughlin, J.Bolton
F: Bird, Hall, Grundy
FOLL: Jolly, Goodes, Moore
I/C: Ablett, Bevan, Davis, Richards
EMG: Barlow, Brennan, Mathews
NEW: Craig Bird, Scholarship Selection, No.57 at 2007 AFL Draft, from NSW-ACT U18s

WEST COAST v BRISBANE LIONS
Saturday, 5:40pm WST, Subiaco Oval

WEST COAST
B: Wirrpanda, Glass, B.Jones
HB: Waters, Hunter, A.Selwood
C: Embley, Kerr, Braun
HF: Fletcher, Hansen, Rosa
F: Graham, Lynch, LeCras
FOLL: Cox, Priddis, Stenglein
I/C: Hurn, Nicoski, Seaby, Staker
EMG: Masten, McNamara, S.Selwood

BRISBANE LIONS
B: Drummond, Merrett, Patfull
HB: Stiller, Macdonald, Begley
C: Notting, Adcock, Johnstone
HF: Power, Brown, Lappin
F: Bradshaw, Brennan, Hooper
FOLL: Charman, Black, Rischitelli
I/C: Copeland, Leuenberger, Selwood, Corrie
EMG: Sherman, Henderson, Proud

WESTERN BULLDOGS v ADELAIDE
Sunday, 1:10pm AEST, Telstra Dome

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Gilbee, Lake, Morris
HB: Griffen, Wight, Hargrave
C: Eagleton, West, Akermanis
HF: Murphy, Hahn, Johnson
F: Higgins, Minson, Welsh
FOLL: Hudson, Cooney, Cross
I/C from: Boyd, Street, Addison, Giansiracusa, Hill, Stack, Tiller

ADELAIDE
B: Johncock, Rutten, Bassett
HB: Doughty, Bock, Goodwin
C: Douglas, Thompson, van Berlo
HF: McLeod, Stevens, Vince
F: Porplyzia, McGregor, Burton
FOLL: Griffin, Reilly, Edwards
I/C from: Tippett, Shirley, Mackay, Symes, Maric, Jericho, Campbell
NEW: Kurt Tippett, from Southport

HAWTHORN v MELBOURNE
Sunday, 4:40pm AEST, MCG

HAWTHORN
B: Guerra, Gilham, Birchall
HB: Ladson, Croad, Murphy
C: Dew, Mitchell, Young
HF: Rioli, Boyle, Bateman
F: Williams, Roughead, Franklin
FOLL: Taylor, Sewell, Tuck
I/C from: Campbell, Clarke, Ellis, Kennedy, Morton, Osborne, Stokes
NEW:
Cyril Rioli, Selection No.12, 2007 NAB AFL Draft from St Marys (NT);
Josh Kennedy, Selection No.40 (Father/Son), 2006 NAB AFL Draft from
Sandringham U18s; Jarryd Morton, Selection No.33 2006 AFL Draft from
Claremont; Cameron Stokes, Rookie selection 2007 NAB AFL Draft from
Darwin (NT)

MELBOURNE
B: Wheatley, Carroll, Garland
HB: Petterd, Bell, McDonald
C: Green, McLean, Buckley
HF: Bruce, Miller, Yze
F: Newton, Neitz, Robertson
FOLL: White, Davey, Jones
I/C: Jamar, Bode, Frawley, Johnson, Moloney, Morton, Weetra
NEW: Cale Morton, Selection No.4, 2007 AFL Draft from Claremont; Isaac Weetra, Selection No.62, 2006 AFL Draft from Port Adelaide

ORTH MELBOURNE v ESSENDON
Monday, 2:10pm AEST, Telstra Dome

KANGAROOS
B: S.Thompson, Firrito, Watt
HB: Pratt, Gibson, Wells
C: Simpson, Harris, Swallow
HF: Grant, Jones, Thomas
F: Petrie, N.Thompson, Edwards
FOLL: McIntosh, Rawlings, Harvey
I/C from: Power, Ross, Brown, Hale, Harding, McMahon, Campbell
NEW:
Ben Ross, Selection No.3 2006 Pre-season Draft, from Gippsland U18s;
Scott Thompson, Selection No.37, 2007 AFL Draft, from Geelong VFL

ESSENDON
B: Dempsey, Michael, Fletcher,
HB: Slattery, Ryder, Nash
C: Dyson, Watson, Houli
HF: Jetta, McPhee, Lucas
F: Davey, Lloyd, Lonergan
FOLL: Hille, Stanton, McVeigh
I/C from: Johns, Johnson, Laycock, Lovett-Murray, Monfries, Peverill, Ramanauskas