Colin Sylvia and Liam Jurrah were the biggest casualties as new Melbourne coach Todd Viney swung the selection axe at the embattled AFL club.

The Demons dropped Sylvia, Jurrah, Addam Maric and Daniel Nicholson for Saturday's match against Carlton at the MCG.

Ruckman Mark Jamar will also miss the game with a foot injury.

Melbourne sacked Dean Bailey and appointed Viney as caretaker coach last Sunday, a day after the disastrous 31-goal loss to Geelong.

Tom Scully, Aaron Davey and Clint Bartram are the big-name inclusions for Melbourne, with Joel MacDonald and Max Gawn also returning.

The in-form Blues recalled Aaron Joseph at the expense of Ryan Houlihan.

Essendon must beat Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night to stay in finals contention and the Bombers will have three important recalls.

Michael Hurley, Heath Hocking and Dustin Fletcher are all set to return from injury after Brent Prismall (knee) and Travis Colyer (foot) were ruled out for the rest of the season.

The Bombers also tinkered with their ruck setup again, dropping Tom Bellchambers.

Paddy Ryder had arguably his best game for the season at centre half-back last Sunday against Collingwood, but Bellchambers' omission means he will probably return to the ruck to help David Hille.

Sydney are unchanged.

Collingwood named Alan Didak for his first senior game since round 14 as they made four changes for Saturday night's away match against Port Adelaide.

Didak has been out of action with a calf injury and Dale Thomas has also recovered from the corked thigh that kept him out of the Essendon win.

The `Pies also recalled Cameron Wood and Luke Rounds.

Harry O'Brien has knee soreness, ending his run of 104 consecutive games, and Collingwood left out Brent Macaffer, Lachlan Keeffe and Ben Sinclair.

Tom Logan (foot) and Jay Schulz (foot and back) are out of the Port side, making way for Daniel Stewart and Jasper Pittard.

Fremantle made four changes for Friday night's must-win clash against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, including Luke McPharlin, Kepler Bradley, Clayton Hinkley and Nic Suban.

Apart from losing Rhys Palmer (ankle) and Matt de Boer (knee), Fremantle dropped Ryan Crowley and Jack Anthony.

St Kilda regained captain Nick Riewoldt from suspension and also recalled Jason Blake.

Zac Dawson is suspended and Tom Lynch was dropped.

Geelong left out Brad Ottens (knee) and Corey Enright (soreness) for Saturday's Skilled Stadium game against Gold Coast, recalling James Podsiadly and Josh Hunt.

The Suns will be without captain Gary Ablett (hamstring), Karmichael Hunt (illness) and Dion Prestia (achilles) as they also left out Matt Shaw.

Daniel Harris, Sam Iles, Joel Wilkinson and Seb Tape are their inclusions.

Hawthorn included captain Luke Hodge and Cameron Bruce in their squad for Sunday's Launceston game against North Melbourne, while forward Lindsay Thomas is set to return for the Kangaroos.

West Coast's squad for the Sunday home game against Richmond features stars Nic Naitanui and Daniel Kerr.

The Tigers will be without Chris Newman (knee) and Jake Batchelor (shoulder).

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