The Northern Blues could field as many as 12 debutants in Saturday’s season opener against Port Melbourne.

In an extended Bertocchi 31-man squad, Northern has named all seven of Carlton’s extended bench, but will nonetheless take in a lot of new faces at North Port Oval on Saturday.

Also included in the side is Carlton’s Andrew Phillips, who will make his much-awaited return from injury this weekend.

The ruckman, who has been sidelined since mid-January following a foot injury, will have a big role to play in a team ladened with AFL-listed players.
 

24 Carlton players have been named in the squad, which will be cut down to at least 20 in line with Carlton’s final 22 announcement tomorrow evening.

However, rookie Kym LeBois won’t be among them, with the exciting rookie to miss through ankle soreness.

First-year draftees Zac Fisher, Patrick Kerr, Cameron Polson and Tom Williamson - as well as mature recruit Alex Silvagni - have all been named in Northern’s squads.

From a Northern perspective, boom recruits Cameron O’Shea and Luke Russell are both included in the starting 18 to play their first VFL games for their new club.

One confirmed debutant for the Blues is VFL-listed Marcus Stavrou, a big-bodied midfielder that has enjoyed an outstanding maiden pre-season at Preston City Oval.

The Blues will be out to get their year off on the right note, having not won an opening round fixture since 2014. 

The season opener from North Port Oval gets underway at 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The game will be streamed live on the VFL website.