All-Australians Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin and Trent Croad head a group of nine Hawthorn premiership players who will miss their AFL pre-season opener.

The Hawks' strong depth means they have still picked a solid squad for the Saturday night match against Melbourne in Launceston.

Hawthorn are confident Croad (foot) and Xavier Ellis (hip) are the only two key players who won't be available until round one of the regular season.

Shane Crawford has retired, while Franklin and Hodge are coming back from off-season shoulder surgery.

Brent Renouf is serving a club-imposed suspension, while Jordan Lewis, Robert Campbell and Rick Ladson are the other premiership players who will miss the game.

The squad includes Ryan Schoenmakers, Hawthorn's first pick at No.16 in November's national draft, and Liam Shiels, who was taken at No.34.

Geelong will go into Saturday night's Telstra Dome game against Adelaide without six members of the team that lost the grand final to the Hawks.

Captain Tom Harley has a knee injury, while Steve Johnson, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn, Josh Hunt and Cameron Mooney will also sit out the match.

Mitchell Brown, their top draft pick last November at No.15, is in the squad along with fellow youngsters Simon Hogan, Brodie Moles and Jeremy Laidler.

Melbourne could not consider luckless key position player Jared Rivers, who rolled his ankle last weekend in the first quarter of an intraclub game.

Russell Robertson continues to recover from his Achilles tendon injury, while Brent Moloney is also not in the squad.

But Brock McLean is back after an ankle injury ended his season last year in round 14, Aaron Davey has been named and new draftee Rohan Bail is also in the squad.

The Crows have rested star utility Andrew McLeod, but Trent Hentschel appears ready for his long-awaited comeback.

Hentschel has not played since suffering a horrific knee injury in round 21 of the 2006 season.

Fellow forwards Brett Burton (knee) and Jason Porplyzia (shoulder) remain unavailable and Nathan van Berlo (foot) is also injured.

Former Collingwood midfielder Rhyce Shaw will make his debut for Sydney on Sunday when they play Port Adelaide at Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Several key Swans are not in the squad, including Barry Hall, Leo Barry and Michael O'Loughlin.

They have named Lewis Johnson, their top draft pick at No.12.

Kristin Thornton is also set to make his comeback after needing a knee reconstruction early last year.

Former Richmond player Danny Meyer is in Port Adelaide's squad, along with top draftee Hamish Hartlet, the No.4 selection.

Josh Carr has returned to Port after four years at Fremantle and former captain Warren Tredrea is also in the squad.

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