Follow it LIVE: Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne Kangaroos, Port Adelaide Power v Essendon Bombers, Gather ...

LAST year's beaten grand finalists Brisbane will be desperate to kickstart its season when it faces fellow winless side North Melbourne at Adelaide's Norwood Oval on Friday afternoon.

It's the first of two Gather Round games on Friday, with hometown Port Adelaide hosting Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

LIONS v KANGAROOS Follow it LIVE

It's perhaps the ideal match-up for the 0-3 Lions as they looks to get their floundering campaign back on track.

Brisbane simply must win against a Kangaroos side that they have beaten in all six clashes going back to 2018.

North Melbourne (0-3) was always likely to find the going tough as it started its season with three matches against last year's preliminary finalists in the opening four rounds.

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But the Roos should still be aiming to tidy up their ball use if only to protect their undermanned and undersized defence that is struggling to contain opposition key forwards. 

Brisbane has brought in Darcy Gardiner while James Tunstill has come in as the sub, with Darcy Fort and Deven Robertson dropped,.

The Roos have added Charlie Comben, Liam Shiels and Hugh Greenwood, with Toby Pink and Charlie Lazzaro making way with Callum Coleman-Jones (Achilles) injured.

Shiels will start as the Roos' sub.

Brisbane v North Melbourne at Norwood Oval, 5.10pm ACDT

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SUBSTITUTESBrisbane: JamesTunstillNorth Melbourne: Liam Shiels

Port Adelaide (2-1) will be looking to make the most of its home ground advantage when it takes on Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

The Power did a lot right against Melbourne last week - they had more shots on goal and an additional 21 inside 50s, but were unable to clinch the statement win they arguably need against a top-four contender.

POWER v BOMBERS Follow it LIVE

Port must now make the most of its second of three consecutive matches on home turf against a Bombers side it has beaten in all of its seven meetings going back to 2018.

Essendon (2-1) turned to effort as much as an 'edge' in its rousing come-from-behind victory over St Kilda in round three as its midfield won the battle at the coalface and around the ground.

The Bombers are still a work in progress but can put themselves in a strong early position with a second consecutive win over a finals hopeful.

Mitch Georgiades is back for his first game in more than a year for Port with Jason Horne-Francis also returning, but Ollie Wines (hamstring) is sidelined and Francis Evans has been axed.

The Bombers have made just one change with Will Setterfield coming in for Sam Durham (concussion).