Unbeaten Geelong insist their decision to give stars Brad Ottens, Corey Enright and Harry Taylor a break this weekend does not reflect how they rate Gold Coast as opponents.

The move follows hard-fought AFL wins over highly-ranked Collingwood and Carlton, with Saturday night's match at Metricon Stadium looming as an easier test.

The Cats listed the trio as injured, citing a knee injury for Ottens, a chest complaint for Taylor and soreness for Enright.

Youngster Allen Christensen (concussion) is the other omission.

Coach Chris Scott had flagged earlier this week that No.1 ruckman Ottens might be rested.

But Cats football operations manager Neil Balme said while the injuries were not major, good management of player fitness issues was vital.

"There's certainly a challenge to manage your players a lot more now than there ever was, with the pace of the game, the new interchange rules, etc," Balme said.

He said the timing was purely about their condition, not the opposition.

"It's got nothing to do with who we are playing or where, it would be no different if we were playing Collingwood," Balme said.

Captain Cameron Ling returns from injury for a possible stopping job on the Suns' captain, ex-Geelong star Gary Ablett, with Cameron Mooney and Tom Lonergan also back and Josh Cowan given an AFL debut.

The Suns made four changes, with big forward Charlie Dixon and experienced midfielder Daniel Harris among their inclusions.

The Western Bulldogs have already cut three players - Lindsay Gilbee, Jarrad Grant and Brennan Stack - from their squad to play Hawthorn on Sunday, after being thrashed by West Coast last round.

Star forward Barry Hall is back, but fullback Brian Lake is still out.

Sydney lost ruckman Shane Mumford to knee soreness for Saturday's match against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium and will hand 2008 first-round draftee Lewis Johnston an AFL debut.

Midfielder Levi Greenwood returns from injury for the Kangaroos for his first AFL game this year.

Melbourne lost Aaron Davey (knee), Luke Tapscott (hamstring) and Clint Bartram (hip) from an already-depleted side for Friday night's meeting with Carlton at the MCG, while rookie-lister Daniel Nicholson will debut.

The Blues replaced Robbie Warnock (concussion) with fellow ruckman Shaun Hampson, while ex-Demon midfielder Brock McLean was retained for what will be his first meeting with his former club.

Fremantle's ex-Adelaide ruckman Jonathon Griffin will make his Dockers debut against St Kilda in Perth on Saturday, replacing the injured Aaron Sandilands.

Adelaide forward Taylor Walker has been recalled to the Crows' squad for Sunday's AAMI Stadium meeting with Brisbane.

Port Adelaide have dropped Steven Salopek for Saturday night's clash with Richmond in Darwin, while Brad Miller and Matt White return for the Tigers.

Collingwood have named star midfielder Dane Swan to play West Coast at the MCG on Sunday, despite fitness concerns, while defender Alan Toovey returns from injury.

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