Two games under lights and a late afternoon start see the back end of Saturday feature your Animals heavily after the week off, with this week’s fixtures a full reverse of the Round 2 weekend earlier in the year.

thirds: vs st. mary’s salesian - bennettswood reserve - 11.40am

The “early” start game for the Animals this week, with the Thirds fresh off the high of the Friday night Daisy game at Oakleigh, looking to get revenge on a St. Mary’s side which fielded a strong line up last time.

Four new debutants feature this week, as the Keegan brothers Jackson and Darcy are set to bookend the field, with friend of Caydos Austin Cookson also joining the Animals ranks this season, whilst Marshall Weir also makes his long awaited debut after joining in pre-season.

Michael Allen and Junior Singh swap ends after the weekly goal kicking competition saw Junior win his way in to the forward line.

women: vs preston - w.r ruthven reserve - 4.45pm

The return of Olivia Frost and Tahlia Hill from injury helps bolster a women’s side looking to re-join the winners circle against a team they beat earlier in the season.

It’s a return to the “normal” timeslot in the north, with the evening trip to Preston the fourth time it’s happened since the women’s team began.

Sam Hogarth swings forward to bring her marking capabilities to the front 50, seeing Rose Kennedy push on to a wing spot to provide some run and carry, whilst Captain Ebony Ratcliffe pushes in to the backline.

reserves: vs bulleen-templestowe - ted ajani reserve - 3.10pm

A 50th club game for Lachlan Hicks headlines this match up the Animals won easily earlier in the season, which will see them miss regular captain Anthony “Sportsbet” Smith.

This sees enigmatic full forward Matt Price take on the captaincy duties, an announcement met with loud cheers when read out at Thursday dinner.

Oskar Godde and James Greaves make their Reserves debuts, which also sees former captain Sean Howard also back in returning from injury.

Mitch Lamb drops back from Seniors to add some seniority to the side in a stacked midfield which sees Jimmy Moran, Cam Garnder, and Jacob Glare all expecting plenty of touches.

seniors: vs bulleen-templestowe - ted ajani reserve - 5.30pm

A senior debut for Jack Hernan and the return of captain Harry Davis headline the Seniors as the strive to return to early season form.

Jack becomes the second Hernan to play for the Animals seniors, after brother Tom featured heavily last year up forward.

Meanwhile Harry Davis plays his first game since playing Bulleen-Temp in Round 2, with the captain looking to put all frustration behind him and make a late charge for the League B&F Top 10 like he did in 2023.

Sam Davis, Connor Xipolitos, and Scott McCarney are all back from injury, and just in time to cover for fresh injuries and travel-related absences.