AFL LIVE updates: Cats hit by loss of star for tough Adelaide clash We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later. 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Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size 7.22pmCats high on the AFL form ladder 7.08pmTravelling Geelong fans 7.03pmMcKay to return; Balta in VFL as teams named 6.57pmYour view: Who have you got? 6.47pmGeelong star hit by illness 6.34pmCrows, Cats to open AFL’s Gather Round Hide key posts Go to latest Pinned post from 6.35pm Crows Cluster: Moments that have hurt Adelaide Latest posts Latest posts Cats high on the AFL form ladder The subs and late changes Travelling Geelong fans Geelong fans pose before the match.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Advertisement McKay to return; Balta in VFL as teams named By Roy Ward Carlton have named star forward Harry McKay to make his return for the must-win clash with West Coast Eagles at Adelaide Oval on Saturday. McKay was one of four changes to the Blues side along with Matt Cottrell, Corey Durdin and debutant Matthew “Jeff” Carroll who replace Lewis Young, Lachlan Cowan, Ashton Moir and Cooper Lord. Harry McKay last played in the senior side in round one.Credit: Getty Images The Eagles have dropped star midfielder Tim Kelly while key forward Jake Waterman and crumbling forward Liam Ryan are among the inclusions. Richmond have not named premiership defender Noah Balta for their clash with Fremantle on Sunday, but he will play in their VFL side against Australia’s under-18s. Balta was eligible to play after serving a six-game ban after being found guilty of assaulting a man in Mulwala in December. He will be sentenced on April 22 and the Tigers have faced pressure from many people including Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, to not play until that happens. “Noah will return through our VFL team this weekend given the time he has spent out of the game,” Richmond’s football performance general manager Tim Livingstone said. “This is purely a football decision that we have made to ensure Noah builds important match conditioning before returning to AFL level.” Fremantle named several leading players in their extended squad to face the Tigers led by Hayden Young, Sean Darcy and Sam Switkowski. The Saints named Jack Steele, Liam Henry and debutant Hugh Boxshall in their extended squad to face GWS Giants who have included Stephen Coniglio in their squad. Your view: Who have you got? Pre-match scenes A young fan gets into the spirt of the Gather Round occasion.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Fans arrive for the round five match.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Advertisement Geelong star hit by illness The Cats will be without gun defender Tom Stewart, who has been hit by illness. Geelong confirmed about 40 minutes ago that the club made a call on Stewart at about lunchtime. “Unfortunately he’s out,” Geelong assistant coach Steven King told Fox Footy. “We landed yesterday, went out to Woodville for training and he fell ill, gastro unfortunately. “He didn’t recover in time. We made the call at about lunchtime today, so unfortunately he’s a late out.” Crows Cluster: Moments that have hurt Adelaide Crows, Cats to open AFL’s Gather Round Between Adelaide’s scoring avalanche and Geelong’s ability to keep the ball from the opposition, something will give in their AFL blockbuster. The third Gather Round will open on Thursday night at Adelaide Oval, with the Crows set to have a much clearer idea of how much they are improving this season. Izak Rankine and Riley Thilthorpe celebrate a goal.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images After three convincing wins, Adelaide had their first loss against the Suns on the Gold Coast last weekend and were on the wrong end of a crucial umpiring blunder late in the match as they went down by one point. It was no disgrace as the Crows try to make the top eight for the first time since their 2017 grand final loss. Now they face the Cats, last year’s preliminary finalists and a team renowned for their discipline and structure. It’s a clash between two of the league’s outliers - Adelaide have scored 500 points this season and no other team has more than 400. Geelong took a whopping 148 uncontested marks last week as they played keepings-off in their win over Melbourne. By comparison, the Adelaide-Gold Coast game featured a combined total of 137 marks. “That will be a big focus for us tomorrow night,” Adelaide veteran Taylor Walker said of Geelong’s ability to maintain possession. “It’s certainly a barometer for Geelong ... they try and take away one of our strengths, we’ll try and take away one of theirs.” Geelong’s defensive general Tom Stewart took 11 of their marks against the Demons and looms as a major headache for Walker and his fellow Crows forwards. But Stewart looks at Walker, plus fellow Adelaide key forwards Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty, and knows he also had a big night ahead. “We - as a team, collectively - and me, myself, we’re probably going to have our hands full,” Stewart said. “Three big boys who like throwing their weight around - that’s the one thing I’m going to be on red alert for. “They’ve done such a great job in their list build. They have damaging players all over the ground, who we really have to respect. “But we’re not going to be passive in our approach.” It remained unclear after Adelaide training on Wednesday afternoon whether star onballer Izak Rankine will play. He was restricted to a light session as he tries to overcome a calf injury. Rankine was picked, with the Crows to make a last-minute call on his fitness. Advertisement Hello and good evening Good evening and welcome to tonight’s AFL live blog as we begin our coverage of Gather Round in South Australia. Adelaide and Geelong will begin the days-long action at Adelaide Oval with first bounce set for 7.40pm AEST. Enjoy the night to come. 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