Steve Johnson and Hamish McIntosh will have their first hit out of 2015 when they line up for the VFL Cats on Saturday.
The VFL Cats will play Collingwood at Simonds Stadium in the first of four pre-season practice matches.
Johnson and McIntosh have not been seen since last year’s qualifying final against Hawthorn, having battled injuries throughout the summer.
Johnson will return after an ongoing foot injury which had kept him to modified training program for most of the off-season and McIntosh will be out on the park after undergoing off-season knee surgery to remove cartilage.
Josh Cowan is also set to play his first game since round 18, 2013. The luckless midfielder has recovered from surgery on a third Achilles tendon injury in June last year.
Cats fans can be sure to see an array of new faces this Saturday afternoon with seven new players set to pull on the blue and white hoops.
Former Geelong Falcon Ryan Williams will be one to watch. The 26-year-old has moved back to Victoria after playing with Central Districts in the SANFL since 2008.
Experienced VFL players Sandy Robinson, formerly of Port Melbourne and Matthew Farrelly, formerly of Bendigo Gold have also been named in the squad to take on the Pies.
Simon Close, Tom Ruggles, Brenton Rees and Nick Dixon will play their first game for the VFL Cats.
Jackson Sheringham will return to the side after being delisted from the Cats’ AFL list at the end of last year. Sheringham, a top performer at VFL level, will bring a wealth of experience.
Fans can also expect to see the likes of Cameron Tudor, Mitch Herbison, Fraser Fort, Daniel Measures, Zak Sherman, Keiran Paliouras and Dane McFarlane back for another year.
Paul Hood will coach his first game after taking the reigns from Matthew Knights who has moved into an assistant coaching role with the AFL team.
Collingwood have named a 26 man squad which includes All-Australian Ben Reid as well as ex-Gold Coast Sun and Geelong Falcon Jeremy Taylor.
The teams will play with a squad of 26, with 24 players able to play at one time. Teams will have the ability to change over two players at half time.
Practice Match 1: Geelong VFL vs Collingwood VFL, 12pm Saturday 14th March, Simonds Stadium. The Polly Farmer Gate (Moorabool Street) will be open from 11.30am. Seating will be available within the lower level of the Reg Hickey Stand, catering also available within the stand.
Geelong Cats squad
Steve Johnson (AFL)
Hamish McIntosh (AFL)
Jake Kolodjashnij (AFL)
Dean Gore (AFL)
Josh Cowan (AFL)
Tom Read (AFL)
Jordan Cunico (AFL)
Josh Walker (AFL)
Jarrad Jansen (AFL)
Michael Luxford (AFL)
Padraig Lucey (AFL)
Simon Close
Jackson Sheringham
Ryan Williams
Matthew Farrelly
Cameron Tudor
Mitch Herbison
Tom Ruggles
Fraser Fort
Sandy Robinson
Daniel Measures
Zak Sherman
Keiran Paliouras
Dane McFarlane
Brenton Rees
Nick Dixon
Collingwood squad
Ben Monkhorst
Jesse Wallin
Ash Close
Sam Haslem
Jack Blair
Chris Gleeson
Jackson Viola
Jarrod Witts (AFL)
Ben Reid (AFL)
Nathan Freeman (AFL)
Kieran Ellis
Tony Armstrong (AFL)
Gus Borthwick
Josh Turner
Brayden Maynard (AFL)
Matthew Goodyear (AFL)
Michael Manteit (AFL)
Brenden Abbott (AFL)
Rourke Fischer
Jordan Collopy
Trent Cody
Jeremy Taylor
Adrian Indovino
Will Knight
Ben Moloney
Scott Greenhough
