Thursday night at the SCG has all the ingredients of a proper footy story. Two eager young debutants. A coach with his back against the wall. A man facing his former club for the first time. And, over at Geelong, a player finally getting to lace up his boots again after one of the more harrowing years any AFL footballer has endured. I reckon this Opening Round has a bit of everything.
Carlton coach Michael Voss confirmed on Tuesday that midfielder Jagga Smith and key defender Harry Dean will both play their first AFL games when the Blues take on Sydney at the SCG. For Smith, it is a moment that has been two years in the making. The 2024 No. 3 pick did not feature in his first season at AFL level after injuring his ACL in pre-season, but he made up for lost time in emphatic fashion. Smith racked up 37 disposals, five clearances and a classy goal in a best-on-ground display in Carlton's pre-season win over Geelong.
Fair dinkum, the hype around Smith has been building all summer. Voss was careful not to pile on the expectations, but he could not hide his enthusiasm either. "Obviously, Jagga, most people have seen him over the last couple of weeks, and the impact that he can have on games," Voss told reporters, "and probably how valuable he is going to be to us in the short term and long term." Dean, meanwhile, was the highest key defender picked in the national draft for over ten years, that previous player being Carlton co-vice captain Jacob Weitering himself. Voss said Dean had "really impressed" and that he expected the pair to form a long partnership in defence.
Here's the thing about Weitering: he is also the man Carlton desperately needs against Sydney on the night. The Blues remain hopeful Weitering will be fit to face the Swans after he suffered a rib injury in the State of Origin clash. Voss confirmed Weitering had completed managed contact work but needed to pass an uncontrolled session on Tuesday to press his case. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Weitering was subsequently observed playing at full back in match simulation and moving well. If he does take the field, he faces an immediate and deeply personal assignment: keeping a lid on Charlie Curnow, who crossed to Sydney in the off-season after winning two Coleman Medals in navy blue.
"They know each other very, very well," Voss said of the Curnow-Weitering match-up. "But we sort of put friendships aside, and we go into combat against each other." It is a line that sounds diplomatic, but anyone who has watched Curnow kick bags will know Voss means every word of it. The Blues were the worst field-kicking side in the competition last year, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, and while Voss acknowledged signs of improvement in pre-season, he made clear he would not draw conclusions until the work was done "under real heat."
With the loss of Charlie Curnow, Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning over the off-season, the Blues have had to reconsider their tactical outlook heading into 2026. Carlton's cohort of new players could leave coach Michael Voss with as many as eight or nine first-time Blues in his Opening Round plans, with Jagga Smith leading the way alongside new recruits Will Hayward, Ollie Florent, Ben Ainsworth, Campbell Chesser and Liam Reidy. Add Dean and potentially Wade Derksen, and this is a side that looks almost nothing like the one that stumbled out of the blocks in 2025.
It is a big call, but that scale of change probably needs to be viewed as an opportunity rather than a warning sign. Voss sees it that way, too. "So how can you compare what happened 12 months ago, when you've got almost half of your team that's going to change?" he said. "We'll just lean into what we've got as opposed to what wasn't there." The Blues began 2025 with top-four aspirations and were derailed by a shock round-one loss to Richmond. Voss, now in the final year of his contract, needs a different start this time around.
Bruhn finally gets his footy back
If the Carlton story carries genuine excitement, the Geelong chapter carries real weight. Tanner Bruhn will line up against Gold Coast on Friday night in his first AFL game in 17 months, and the circumstances that kept him away make his return one of the more significant moments of the opening round.
On 11 November 2025, the Crown Prosecutor withdrew the charges against Bruhn after two witnesses were found to have lied under oath. The AFL had stood Bruhn down during the court case and the 23-year-old did not play at any level during the 2025 season. Geelong coach Chris Scott did not mince his words on Tuesday. "It's just fantastic for him to get out there and be able to concentrate on footy after what is one of the most egregious injustices I can think of in the game," Scott said, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The AFL Players Association, in a statement following the charges being dropped, said that Bruhn "was entitled to the presumption of innocence from the outset" and that standing him down had been "premature and disproportionate." Unlike the NRL or Football Australia, the AFL does not have an official no-fault stand-down policy. The league's handling of the case raised legitimate questions about due process, and those questions have not been quietly resolved simply because the season is starting.
Bruhn last played in the AFL in Geelong's preliminary final loss to Brisbane in September 2024. He collected 27 disposals in the AAMI Community Series match against Carlton, including 17 touches in the first half alone, which is about as clear a statement of intent as you can make in a practice game. Scott confirmed Bruhn would be deployed at half-back rather than his preferred midfield role to start the season, but left no doubt the club views him as a genuine midfielder going forward.
On the injury front for Geelong, Scott confirmed that key forward Jeremy Cameron, who had been carrying a quad complaint, and midfielder Bailey Smith, nursing a calf, would both be ready to play. Utility Gryan Miers, who had thumb surgery, is a game-time decision. Ruckman Rhys Stanley has been ruled out. Scott was enthusiastic about his ruckman options, with Toby Conway and Mitch Edwards both pushing for selection. "If we could have them up and going at some point, we are going to have a ruck set-up that is different to the one we have gone with for the last decade and a half, since Brad Ottens retired," Scott said.
At the end of the day, the start of any AFL season carries a certain kind of hope. For Carlton fans, that hope is tied to a new wave of talent and a coach who needs results. For Geelong, it sits with a settled list and a returning player who has been through more than anyone should have to deal with off the field. That's the kind of story that makes you appreciate the game a little more when the ball finally bounces on Thursday night at the SCG.