Great Southern crop champing at the bit for season return

A strong contingent of Great Southern AFL players will be eager to return on June 11 after their respective clubs increased training workloads this week.

All clubs were allowed to resume full contact training this week and the AFL also announced the fixtures for the first month back.

North Albany junior Jeremy McGovern along with his West Coast Eagles teammates will relocate to the Gold Coast as part of a Queensland hub, as will Lake Grace star and Fremantle Dockers captain Nat Fyfe.

The Eagles will face both Queensland-based teams — Gold Coast and Brisbane — in round two and three before taking on Port Adelaide in round four who are also in the hub.

In round five the Eagles will look to finish off the first month back on a strong note as they face the reigning premiers Richmond in a blockbuster clash.

Fremantle will face the same three teams as the Eagles in the first three rounds back, taking on Brisbane in round two, Port Adelaide in round three and Gold Coast in round four.

The Dockers will face the Adelaide Crows, who are also in the Queensland hub, in their round five clash.

Railways product Jordan Clark and his Geelong teammates will tackle Hawthorn, Carlton, Melbourne and the Suns in their first block of fixtures all to be played at their home GMHBA Stadium.

North Albany forward and younger brother of Jeremy, Mitch McGovern, and his Blues teammates will launch their restart to the season against Melbourne followed by games against Geelong, Essendon and St Kilda.

Marley Williams, who hails from North Albany, will look to impress against Greater Western Sydney, Sydney, the Hawks and Western Bulldogs.

Magpies big man Darcy Cameron will be looking for a dream club debut against the Tigers in round two before they face the Saints, GWS and the Bombers in the next three weeks.

Pingaring’s Liam Baker and his Tigers premiership-winning teammates will launch their flag defence against the Magpies and then face the Hawks, Saints and Eagles.