AFL Teams 2026: Round 3 (Early bye 2)

Quick Links

Game 1: Hawks vs Swans |
Game 2: Crows vs Bulldogs |
Game 3: Tigers vs Suns |
Game 4: Giants vs Saints |
Game 5: Dockers vs Dees |
Game 6: Power vs Bombers |
Game 7: Eagles vs Roos

Wednesday – Early news

Welcome to carnage round, it has arrived early this season. For a full injury list, check the official AFL injury list. We’ve already been hit with some major names going down – Connor Rozee could miss the rest of the season, Christian Petracca is sidelined 4-6 weeks with a hamstring, and Rory Laird is another premium defender out for a couple of weeks. It doesn’t stop there, with Miles Bergman also going down with an ankle injury (1-2 weeks). More bad news for Round 3 – Jordan Dawson is confirmed out for the Crows (see full report), and popular rookie Milan Murdock is sidelined with a hamstring injury (see injury update). A small positive – Dyson Sharp is listed as a test after his ankle concern last round.

Weather notes updated at Wed 18 Mar, 3:00pm AEDT. Please check weather closer to game day.

GAME 1: Geelong Cats vs Adelaide Crows

Thursday March 26 – AEDT: 7:30pm GMHBA Stadium, Geelong 🌦🌫🧊🌙

Notes: ~10°C at bounce, cold, very windy and wet with rain expected throughout. Likely to heavily impact scoring and ball handling. As reported earlier, Jordan Dawson and Rory Laird are both out for Adelaide, which opens up some extra opportunity for other players. Josh Rachele looks like the immediate winner, named on-ball, while the omissions may also benefit a rookie like Brayden Cook in his role. Finnbarr Maley (FWD, $341k) could be a possible downgrade target, but more importantly his inclusion is a small red flag for Lachlan McAndrew owners, with the Crows potentially using the pair in tandem.

GAME 2: Collingwood Magpies vs GWS Giants

Friday March 27 – AEDT: 7:40pm Marvel Stadium, Melbourne 🏢🌙

Notes: ~13°C at bounce, indoor conditions so no weather impact expected.

GAME 3: St Kilda Saints vs Brisbane Lions

Saturday March 28 – AEDT: 12:35pm Marvel Stadium, Melbourne 🏢

Notes: ~19°C during the day, indoor conditions so weather won’t impact play.

GAME 4: Fremantle Dockers vs Richmond Tigers

Saturday March 28 – AEDT: 4:15pm (Perth: 1:15pm) Optus Stadium, Perth ☁

Notes: ~21°C, mostly cloudy with light winds. Good conditions overall, with only a slight chance of earlier rain having any impact.

GAME 5: Essendon Bombers vs North Melbourne Kangaroos

Saturday March 28 – AEDT: 7:35pm Marvel Stadium, Melbourne 🏢🌙

Notes: ~14°C at bounce, indoor conditions so no weather impact expected.

GAME 6: Port Adelaide Power vs West Coast Eagles

Sunday March 29 – AEDT: 12:30pm (Adelaide: 12:00pm) Adelaide Oval, Adelaide ☀

Notes: ~23°C, warm with hazy sunshine and light winds. Ideal conditions for scoring. It was already known that Connor Rozee is out injured, while Miles Bergman is also sidelined. For West Coast, popular rookie Milan Murdock remains out with a hamstring injury.

GAME 7: Carlton Blues vs Melbourne Demons

Sunday March 29 – AEDT: 3:15pm MCG, Melbourne ☀

Notes: ~22°C, nice conditions with sunny periods and light winds. Very good conditions for footy. It was already known that Christian Petracca would miss with his hamstring injury.

Shags

A windy cold day in 2015, I was bored, sick with the flu, and decided to start a blog about Teamsheets. I was immediately recruited by Warnie and somehow am now a DTTALK author. NOTE; Im Back in 2022! woooo Twitter @shagbags2023 ~REMEMBER: Friends don't let friends DT TEAMS become ghost ships.