ONE OF the feel-good stories of the season will come to fruition on Friday night with Geelong's Daniel Menzel to line up for his first game in 1450 days.
After hinting Menzel's return to AFL football was imminent, Cats coach Chris Scott has pulled the trigger on the luckless forward and named him to face Collingwood at the MCG.
Geelong has also named James Kelly for the clash with the Magpies, where they'll fight to keep their finals ambitions alive, but lost Josh Caddy to a knee and omitted George Horlin-Smith.
The Magpies have swapped around their backline with Nathan Brown and Matt Scharenberg in and Alan Toovey and Jack Frost out, with the former rested.
In other selection news, Carlton has surprised by selecting half-back Chris Yarran while the Sydney Swans look set to welcome back Lance Franklin after naming him in Sunday's squad.
And Richmond will face Essendon without captain Trent Cotchin, who will miss with a back injury.
Despite speculation his days at Carlton were over, Yarran has been picked for his first AFL game in a month, with the team taking a big experience hit for the clash with Greater Western Sydney.
Captain Marc Murphy is done for the season with the shoulder he had operated on this week while Andrew Carrazzo is out with a toe issue and Kristian Jaksch with an ankle.
Ruckman Cameron Wood and midfielder Brad Walsh are their other inclusions.
With their finals hopes crushed last week, the Giants have been forced to shake up their team for Saturday's clash at Spotless Stadium with six changes.
They've named defender Adam Kennedy, Dylan Smith, Adam Tomlinson, Tom Downie, James Stewart and Lachie Plowman as inclusions, with four forced omissions.
While Joel Patfull will miss with soreness, Andrew Phillips a shoulder, Will Hoskin-Elliott a knee and Nick Haynes a groin, Jon Patton will have a rest and Rory Lobb has been omitted.
St Kilda won't be thrilled Franklin has been named after he kicked nine goals the last time the teams met, but has picked a squad to bolster its backline with Sean Dempster and Dylan Roberton set to return from injury.
Tom Simpkin, David Armitage and Adam Schneider – for his final AFL game – have also been named for Sunday's clash, with Tim Membrey out with a shoulder and Cam Shenton omitted.
The Swans have named Franklin for what could be his first game since round 18. Gary Rohan and Tom Mitchell have been named on the expanded bench, but Ben McGlynn will miss a fourth straight game with a hamstring.
Three-time premiership player Paul Chapman has been named to return for Essendon for his farewell game. Irishman Conor McKenna is the Bombers' other inclusion for Saturday night's clash with Richmond at the MCG, with Shaun Edwards and Patrick Ambrose dropped.
Cotchin leads the outs for the Tigers, while Steve Morris has been dropped, with Dylan Grimes back from a hamstring and Matt Thomas recalled.
The Western Bulldogs are tempting fate by going up against North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein without a recognised ruckman.
Essendon learned the hard way about facing the in-form Goldstein with a pinch-hitter when they played Shaun McKernan against him in round 16 the Dogs will roll the dice after a thigh injury forced out Tom Campbell out.
Will Minson has been overlooked again, adding more weight to the belief his days at the Kennel are all but over.
The Dogs have named Jordan Roughead for Saturday's clash at Etihad Stadium, as well as Matthew Boyd, Liam Picken, Mitch Honeychurch, Lukas Webb and defender Zaine Cordy for his debut.
They have lost Michael Talia to an ankle, and dropped Daniel Pearce, Caleb Daniel, Lin Jong and Roarke Smith.
For the Kangaroos, Jack Ziebell is back after a one-week suspension while Taylor Garner has been recalled, with Lindsay Thomas out with a foot injury and Luke McDonald soreness.
Hawthorn has regained ruckman David Hale after he was a late withdrawal last week while Will Langford and James Sicily have been rewarded for strong VFL games.
The Hawks will travel to Launceston to face the Brisbane Lions without Paul Puopolo (ankle) and Luke Hodge (suspension), while Ryan Schoenmakers has been dropped.
Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger will miss another week with a problematic knee while Jack Redden is out with a groin, but Daniel Rich will return from a glute injury and Justin Clarke from a jaw, while Hugh Beasley has been recalled with Trent West and Zac O'Brien omitted.
Charlie Dixon has been named for Gold Coast's Saturday night clash with Port Adelaide after proving his ankle is OK. Clay Cameron is back from the NEAFL with Adam Saad (groin) and Josh Hall (omitted) out.
The Power have made three changes despite beating the Hawks last week with Matthew Lobbe to team up with Paddy Ryder after two games out of the side and Jay Schulz on the sidelines with a back injury.
Aaron Young and Karl Amon are their other inclusions for the trip north, with Kane Mitchell omitted and Jake Neade to miss for family reasons.
Adelaide also has a positive story with defender Andy Otten a chance to return for his first senior game since round 20 last year.
The Crows have also added David Mackay, Mitch Grigg and Jake Lever to their extended squad for Sunday, with Sam Shaw the only omission to date.
The Eagles have regained one element of their backline – Jeremy McGovern after two weeks out – but Will Schofield hasn't come up from his hamstring injury and Sharrod Wellingham is out with an ankle.
Tom Lamb, Tom Barrass and Kane Lucas have been named in the squad after a WAFL bye last week.
Fremantle has named Matthew Pavlich to return from the Achilles issue kept him out last week, with Paul Duffield, Clancee Pearce, Matt Taberner and potential debutant Ed Langdon also named for Sunday's clash with Melbourne.
Nat Fyfe is out with a leg injury and Hayden Crozier has been omitted.
The Demons have added six to their squad after losing Heritier Lumumba and Chris Dawes to ankle injuries, and deciding to rest young gun Angus Brayshaw.
Jake Spencer has been called up to help shoulder the load against Aaron Sandilands, while Rohan Bail, Neville Jetta, Aidan Riley and Matt Jones have also been named.
Another potential first-gamer in Oscar McDonald – brother of Tom – has also been picked.
All the ins and outs for round 22
Friday, August 28
Geelong v Collingwood at the MCG, 7.50pm AEST
Geelong
In: J.Kelly, D.Menzel
Out: J.Caddy (knee), G.Horlin-Smith
Collingwood
In: N.Brown, M.Scharenberg
Out: A.Toovey (rested), J.Frost
Saturday, August 29
Greater Western Sydney v Carlton at Spotless Stadium, 1.45pm AEST
Greater Western Sydney
In: A.Kennedy, D.Smith, A.Tomlinson, T.Downie, J.Stewart, L.Plowman
Out: J.Patfull (soreness), J.Patton (rested), A.Phillips (shoulder), W.Hoskin-Elliott (knee), N.Haynes (groin), R.Lobb
Carlton
In: C.Wood, C.Yarran, B.Walsh
Out: M.Murphy (shoulder), K.Jaksch (ankle), A.Carrazzo (toe)
Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions at Aurora Stadium (Launceston), 2.10pm AEST
Hawthorn
In: D.Hale, W.Langford, J.Sicily
Out: L.Hodge (suspension), P.Puopolo (ankle), R.Schoenmakers
Brisbane Lions
In: D.Rich, J.Clarke, H.Beasley
Out: T.West, J.Redden (groin), Z.O'Brien
North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium, 4.35pm AEST
North Melbourne
In: J.Ziebell, T.Garner
Out: L.Thomas (foot), L.McDonald (general soreness)
Western Bulldogs
In: M.Boyd, L.Picken, J.Roughead, M.Honeychurch, L.Webb, Z.Cordy
Out: T.Campbell (thigh), M.Talia (ankle), D.Pearce, C.Daniel, L.Jong, R.Smith
New: Zaine Cordy (Geelong Falcons)
Essendon v Richmond at the MCG, 7.20pm AEST
Essendon
In: P.Chapman, C.McKenna
Out: S.Edwards, P.Ambrose
New: Conor McKenna (County Tyrone, Ireland)
Richmond
In: M.Thomas, D.Grimes
Out: S.Morris, T.Cotchin (back)
Gold Coast v Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium, 7.20pm AEST
Gold Coast
In:C.Dixon, C.Cameron
Out: A.Saad (groin), J.Hall
Port Adelaide
In: M.Lobbe, A.Young, K.Amon
Out: J.Schulz (back), K.Mitchell, J.Neade (family reasons)
Sunday, August 30
Adelaide v West Coast at Adelaide Oval, 12.40pm ACST
Adelaide
In: D.Mackay, A.Otten, M.Grigg, J.Lever
Out: S.Shaw
West Coast
In: J.McGovern, T.Lamb, T.Barrass, K.Lucas
Out: S.Wellingham (ankle)
St Kilda v Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium, 3.20pm AEST
St Kilda
In: A.Schneider, S.Dempster, D.Armitage, T.Simpkin, D.Roberton
Out: C.Shenton, T.Membrey (shoulder)
Sydney Swans
In: L.Franklin, G.Rohan, T.Mitchell
Out: -
Fremantle v Melbourne at Domain Stadium, 2.40pm AWST
Fremantle
In: M.Pavlich, P.Duffield, C.Pearce, M.Taberner, E.Langdon
Out: N.Fyfe (leg), H.Crozier
New: Ed Langdon (Sandringham U18)
Melbourne
In: R.Bail, J.Spencer, N.Jetta, A.Riley, M.Jones, O.McDonald
Out: H.Lumumba (ankle), C.Dawes (ankle), A.Brayshaw (rested)
New: Oscar McDonald (North Ballarat U18)
