Collingwood has made three changes to the side to take on North Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night.

After going down to Carlton by 23 points last Sunday, the Magpies welcome back veteran midfielder Brodie Holland, as well as emerging young stars Tyson Goldsack and Ben Reid.

Holland, 28, played the most recent of his 154 AFL games in round 13 last year, before ongoing achilles problems forced him out for the remainder of the season. 

He undertook off-season surgery to permanently rectify the problem, and while the recovery process has been long, Holland has put in a series of strong performances for Collingwood’s VFL team in recent weeks and deserves his senior recall.

Goldsack, the club’s best first-year player in 2007, played the opening two rounds of the season before suffering concussion against the Lions, and having been out for two weeks is ready to go.

Meanwhile, key forward Reid, who enjoyed an excellent pre-season, has recovered from a corked thigh sustained in the VFL that kept him out for two weeks, and is set to play his first match of 2008 after three impressive showings in his debut year of 2007.

Deputy vice-captain Nick Maxwell will miss one game after accepting the match review panel’s offer of a one-match suspension for striking Carlton’s Marc Murphy, while Danny Stanley and Alan Toovey have been omitted.

Stanley and Toovey join fellow third-year Magpie John Anthony as emergencies.

North Melbourne has made two changes to its team, recalling tall David Hale and forward Leigh Harding, with defender Josh Gibson out through injury and youngster Ben Ross omitted.

AFL Premiership Season – Round 5
Collingwood v North Melbourne
Saturday 19 April 2008
MCG, 7:10pm

COLLINGWOOD
B: Heath Shaw, Shane Wakelin, Tyson Goldsack
HB:  Dane Swan, Nathan Brown, Heritier O’Brien
C: Scott Pendlebury, Brodie Holland, Tarkyn Lockyer
HF: Alan Didak, Anthony Rocca, Rhyce Shaw
F: Paul Medhurst, Travis Cloke, Dale Thomas
Foll: Josh Fraser, Shane O’Bree, Leon Davis
Int: Martin Clarke, Ben Johnson, Ben Reid, Cameron Wood
Emg: John Anthony, Alan Toovey, Danny Stanley

In: Brodie Holland, Tyson Goldsack, Ben Reid
Out: Nick Maxwell (suspended – one week), Danny Stanley, Alan Toovey (both omitted)

NORTH MELBOURNE
B: Jessie Smith, Michael Firrito, Sam Power
HB: Brady Rawlings, Drew Petrie, Daniel Pratt
C: Daniel Wells, Adam Simpson, Shannon Grant
HF: Corey Jones, Aaron Edwards, Matt Campbell
F: Lindsay Thomas, Nathan Thompson, Leigh Brown
Foll: Hamish McIntosh, Daniel Harris, Brent Harvey
Int: Ed Lower, David Hale, Shannon Watt, Leigh Harding
Emg: Jess Sinclair, Eddie Sansbury, Josh Smith

In: David Hale, Leigh Harding
Out: Josh Gibson (injured), Ben Ross