St Kilda has been forced to make two changes due to injury ahead of Saturday afternoon’s clash with Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, with midfielder Jack Sinclair recalled and rebounding defender Brodie Murdoch earning his first opportunity for the year.

Midfielder-forward Jack Billings will miss the encounter with the Dockers due to an ankle injury he suffered in last Sunday’s 46-point win over Essendon, whilst defender Jimmy Webster has been ruled out due to illness.

After being omitted last week and held over as the senior emergency, Sinclair returns for his seventh game of 2016. The former rookie produced arguably the strongest performance of his career against Melbourne in Round 6, before missing the next week with a corked calf. The Victorian now gets a chance to restart his season against the Dockers.  

Murdoch, 22, earns his first opportunity since the final round of last season on the back of sustained form in the VFL. The South Australian is a direct replacement for Webster, and has been knocking on the door for several weeks, with his penetrating left-foot wreaking havoc at Sandringham across the first stage of the season.

Second-year wingman Daniel McKenzie holds his spot in Alan Richardson’s side after the 20-year-old played his first game of 2016 last week against the Bombers.

Wingman Blake Acres, midfielder-forward Darren Minchington and ruckman Lewis Pierce have all been named as emergencies for the weekend, following their strong performances against Werribee last Sunday afternoon.

Damaging half-back Shane Savage will play his 100th game against Fremantle, reaching the milestone in his third season at Linen House Centre, after originally being drafted by Hawthorn with selection No. 75 in the 2008 National Draft.

The 24-year-old has developed into a destructive weapon coming out of the back half and has followed up his breakout season last year with an even better start to 2016.

The Dandenong Stingrays product is averaging 23.6 possessions at a pristine kicking efficiency rate of 84.3 per cent, to go with 451.9 metres gained per week. Alongside Leigh Montagna, the pair form a potent combination on transition.

A week after dismantling the Bombers midfield, St Kilda will be out to do the same against a Dockers onball department missing injured stars Nat Fyfe, Aaron Sandilands, Harley Bennell and Stephen Hill.

Without Sandilands and Fyfe in particular, Fremantle has dropped from the premier stoppages side last season to the bottom half of the spectrum. Ross Lyon’s side was ranked No. 1 for hitouts differential, hitouts to advantage differential and clearances last year. Now they aren’t ranked in the top ten for any of those indicators.

With Jack Steven on fire last week with 40 possessions, Seb Ross gathering a career-high 37 touches and Luke Dunstan and Jack Newnes continuing their impressive seasons, St Kilda will be looking to add the West Australians to their list of midfield scalps on the weekend.

Key forwards Josh Bruce (five goals), Tim Membrey (three goals) and Paddy McCartin (two goals) combined for ten majors last weekend in their first senior appearance together. Richardson will be hopeful the trio can perform again and exploit the Dockers undermanned back six, which has been ravaged by injury again on the back of Alex Pearce’s broken leg against Richmond.