Collingwood has brought back the big guns for Saturday's AFL match of the round against unbeaten Hawthorn at the MCG with skipper Scott Burns and key forward Anthony Rocca named following injury.
And St Kilda has resurrected the career of veteran spearhead Fraser Gehrig, who returns for the Saints' clash against Richmond at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
Burns, who will become only the 11th Collingwood player to reach 250 games on Saturday, returns after missing three games with a calf injury.
And Rocca is back after being a late withdrawal from last week's Anzac Day mauling of Essendon with an ankle injury.
The return of the Pies' two most experienced players - who between them have played 462 matches - means Collingwood will be at virtually full strength for a match expected to draw more than 70,000 fans.
The confident Hawks made no change.
Gehrig, 32, who has spent the past two weeks on the outer returns on the strength of his recent record against Richmond - having kicked 20 goals in his past three games against the Tigers, although he has managed just seven from three appearances this season.
The Saints also regained Michael Gardiner and Adam Schneider following calf and hamstring injuries as Michael Rix, Leigh Fisher and James Blake were dropped.
Richmond made no change meaning a fourth consecutive week in the VFL for dual best and fairest winner Joel Bowden.
Brisbane suffered a major blow losing Travis Johnstone to a hamstring injury for Saturday's daunting trip to unbeaten reigning premier Geelong.
But injury-plagued forward Mitch Clark comes in for his first game of the season and just his 11th since debuting in round one, 2006.
The Cats made no change.
Sydney dropped Nick Davis again after he managed just nine disposals and one goal in his return game during last week's draw against the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome.
The Swans also lost Luke Ablett to a calf injury for Sunday's SCG match against the Bulldogs with veteran big man Peter Everitt, who is yet to play this season, named on a seven man bench.
The Bulldogs added Wayde Skipper, Stephen Tiller and Callan Ward to the 22 that thrashed West Coast last week.
The Eagles made four changes following that defeat - their fifth in six games - for Friday night's home clash against Carlton after losing Adam Hunter and Shannon Hurn to injury and Daniel Kerr to suspension while Brent Staker was dropped.
In come Jaymie Graham, Jamie McNamra, Mark Nicoski and veteran Chad Fletcher.
The Blues included a first gamer in 19-year-old rookie David Ellard as well as promoting Setanta O'hAilpin and veteran Simon Wiggins in place of injured pair Bret Thornton and Adam Hartlett while Darren Pfeiffer was dropped.
Essendon ringed the changes for Sunday's home clash against Port Adelaide following its Anzac Day drubbing with four first gamers named in the 25 man squad in Jarrod Atkinson, Tom Bellchambers, David Myers and Darcy Daniher, the son of former Essendon and Sydney star Anthony.
But the Bombers lost veteran defenders Dustin Fletcher and Adam Ramanauskas to injury and illness as well as pacy midfielder Jason Winderlich to a groin strain.
Port lost star defender Chad Cornes for up to a month with a broken hand with his replacement to come from Nathan Lonie, Robbie Gray, Nick Lower and Paul Stewart.
Adelaide named highly-rated young key position player James Sellar for his debut against North Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.
Sellar, 19, stands 196cm and 95kg and was the Crows' top pick in the 2006 national draft but missed much of his first season last year due to groin problems.
Sellar gets his chance after the Crows lost star full-back Ben Rutten to a back injury while Ken McGregor was dropped.
The Kangaroos have lost Aaron Edwards to a broken leg and surprisingly dropped Jess Sinclair but also named a first gamer in 22-year-old Josh Smith, a 195cm key forward taken at pick 62 in the 2007 national draft.
Struggling Fremantle made a host of changes for its MCG clash against winless Melbourne on Sunday with big guns Chris Tarrant and Des Headland named in the 25 man squad along with five other possible inclusions as the Dockers lost Josh Carr to suspension and Roger Hayden and Antoni Grover to injury.
Melbourne dropped Lynden Dunn while key players Matthew Whelan and Matthew Bate were named in the 25 man squad.