The second installment of five Opening Round matches is upon us for 2026, with the Gold Coast Suns hosting last year’s losing grand finallists Geelong at People First Stadium.
After finally securing their maiden finals appearance last September, Damien Hardwick’s side has added even more starpower to their line-up during the off-season — trading in Christian Petracca and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
While the latter hasn’t been selected on Friday night, the 2020 No.1 draft looks to have found his feet quickly, kicking six goals in the Suns’ VFL practice match on Friday afternoon.
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Zeke Uwland, the brother of key defender Bodhi, will also make his AFL debut for the Suns after being taken with Pick No.2 last year as an Academy prospect.
The news is far less positive for the travelling Cats, with captain Patrick Dangerfield (calf) and Jeremy Cameron (quad) both missing their season opener through injury.
James Worpel will play his first game in the navy-and-white hoops since departing Hawthorn last October as a restricted free agent, while Tanner Bruhn will also suit up for his first match since Geelong’s 2024 preliminary final loss to Brisbane — having missed the 2025 season after being wrongly accussed of rape.
The Opening Round match begins at 7:05pm local time on the Gold Coast (8:05pm AEDT), with the substitutes and final teams for each side to be confirmed an hour beforehand.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), and streaming on Kayo, from 7pm AEST.
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