Richmond have made five unforced changes for their second trip to Adelaide in as many weeks as they chase their first AFL win of the season.

The Tigers, who play Adelaide on Friday night, had that many changes for last week's loss to Port Adelaide, but two were due to injury.

Will Thursfield will play his first senior game since needing a knee reconstruction after round two last season.

Richard Tambling also returns from his one week out with a shoulder injury, while the Tigers promoted Daniel Jackson, Danny Meyer and Shane Edwards.

After speculation during the week that Jack Riewoldt would make his senior debut, the Tigers listed him as an emergency.

Richmond dropped Andrew Krakouer, Matthew White, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Cleve Hughes and Luke McGuane, while Adelaide are unchanged.

As coach Mark Thompson flagged on Tuesday, Geelong dropped budding star Tom Hawkins for Saturday's home game against Fremantle.

Hawkins had created considerable excitement at the club since making his senior debut in round two, but his form had tailed off and he kicked no goals last Sunday in the win over West Coast.

Defender Max Rooke will play his first senior game of the season after recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Dockers also made one change, recalling Dean Solomon from suspension and dropping Daniel Gilmore.

Veteran midfielder Scott Camporeale will play his first senior game this year as Essendon also recalled Matthew Lloyd and Henry Slattery for Saturday's Telstra Dome game against Brisbane.

Lloyd had missed the last two games with a hamstring injury.

The Bombers dropped Jason Laycock, Courtney Johns and Andrew Welsh.

The Lions had to leave out Chris Johnson with a foot injury and also dropped Ben Fixter and Justin Sherman, while Josh Drummond, Troy Selwood and Marcus Allen will return to the seniors.

Hawthorn veteran Joel Smith is another player making his senior return this weekend, promoting along with Jarryd Roughead for Saturday night's match against St Kilda at the MCG.

But Hawks midfielder Sam Mitchell doubts Smith will be on the field for the full game.

"He's probably still a little bit underdone - if he does play, he'll probably only be playing 80 per cent game time," Mitchell said of Smith.

"So whether or not it's worth bringing in someone who is only going to play that much is up to the coaches."

The Hawks left out Garry Moss and Tom Murphy.

Saints ruckman Matthew Clarke is back from a calf muscle injury and he comes in for Brendon Goddard, out for the rest of the year with a knee reconstruction.

The Kangaroos recalled Lindsay Thomas and Brad Moran for Saturday night's Gold Coast home game against Carlton, dropping David Hale and leaving out Daniel Wells (knee).

Carlton recalled Luke Blackwell and Bret Thornton for Paul Bower and Josh Kennedy.

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