Michael Jamison will return to football via the Northern Blues this weekend after being named in the Bertocchi 23.
The match against Geelong at Preston City Oval on Saturday will be Jamison’s first at any level since his 150th AFL game due to illness.
The veteran is one of 11 inclusions into a very extended squad of 31, including all seven members of Carlton’s extended bench.
Charlie Curnow could be in line to make his VFL debut, after being named on Northern’s own extended bench for this Saturday’s match.
The squad will be cut down to 27 in conjunction with Carlton’s team announcement tomorrow at 5pm, before the final team of 23 will be announced on match day.
Curnow and Jamison are joined by fellow inclusions Dennis Armfield, Sean Bolger, Andrejs Everitt, Tyler Roos, Dyson Stevens, Glenn Strachan, Liam Sumner, Jason Tutt and Andrew Walker.
Jesse Glass-McCasker, Ben Casley (both through injury) and Damandeep Aulja come out of the side which went down to Collingwood last weekend.
The inclusion of the experienced Jamison could prove to be an important one, as the Blues have averaged 100 points against in the last fortnight.
The Northern Blues' extended squad for Round 14. (Graphic by the Northern Blues Football Club)
Kristian Jaksch and Liam Jones will again provide the focal points up forward after they combined for eight goals in Northern’s win over the Cats in Round 2.
The midfield could be bolstered by the potential inclusions of Armfield and Tutt, who have both been named on the AFL extended bench and could provide vital run for Northern.
Cameron Barrett has once again been named as 23rd man (the last of his three-game quota).
The squad of 31 sees 20 Carlton-listed players named, which will be reduced to at least 16 come game day.
One Carlton youngster who won’t front up against the Cats is David Cuningham, who will also make his return to action via the Development League when Northern head to Frankston on Sunday morning.
Northern recruit Fraser Russell will also return in the Development game, after missing since the first match of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot.
Scott Selwood headlines the inclusions in a strong Cats line-up, that includes the likes of Rhys Stanley, Nathan Vardy and Shane Kersten.
As was announced earlier in the week, the match has had a venue change and will now be played at Preston City Oval.
The match will also be streamed on the VFL website from 2pm on Saturday, while the match will be preceded by a VFL Women’s curtain raiser between Diamond Creek and Melbourne Uni.
