THE NEW-LOOK Blues.

Carlton has confirmed its team of 23 for the season opener against Sydney, with a distinctly fresh feel about the Navy Blue line-up.

Included in the team are seven new Blues, with Jagga Smith and Harry Dean already confirmed to be making their AFL debuts.

Joining them will be Carlton’s five traded-in recruits from October last year: Ben Ainsworth (Gold Coast), Campbell Chesser (West Coast), Ollie Florent and Will Hayward (Sydney) as well as Liam Reidy (Fremantle).

It marks just the second time in 100 years that seven players or more will be making their Navy Blue debuts in the same game, and just the eighth time in Carlton’s VFL/AFL history.

All up, there are an incredible 13 changes to the last Carlton side which played a game for premiership points in August 2025 against Essendon.

There’s a long-awaited return (and 50th career game) for Brodie Kemp, while Elijah Hollands will also play his first game since May 2025 - incidentally, also against the Swans at the SCG.

Three of the 10 players who featured for the Blues in Round 24 that will go again on Thursday night are the confirmed leadership group of captain Patrick Cripps plus co-vice captains Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that Weitering would be named for the bout with the Swans, having recovered from the rib injury sustained representing Victoria in AFL Origin.

With a fresh look for the Blues also comes a fresh look in the competition, with the sub role scrapped for 2026 and beyond. It means that Carlton will be able to rotate its team of 23 players as they see fit across four quarters, with an interchange cap of 75.

There’ll also be no more centre bounce, as seen throughout pre-season, with one of Marc Pittonet or Reidy to come up against Sydney’s Brodie Grundy come 7:30pm on Thursday night.