Kuwarna has added five players to its squad ahead of the match against Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) at Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.

Midfielder Harry Schoenberg is named in the squad and could make his long-awaited return to the AFL side, after rupturing his Achilles tendon in Round 24, 2023.

Schoenberg’s comeback to competitive football began when he played in the Club’s Round Three SANFL game against Glenelg and he has featured in every game since, averaging 23.5 disposals and 5.8 clearances across four matches.

Defender James Borlase, on-baller Sam Berry, forward Chris Burgess and ruckman Kieran Strachan have also been included in the squad.

Kuwarna Senior Coach Matthew Nicks said Schoenberg had worked hard to regain match fitness and had shown plenty of improvement in the SANFL across the past few weeks.

“Schoenberg has come back from injury with his achilles, has played a couple (SANFL games) now and he’s playing at a level worthy of AFL,” Nicks said.

Forward/midfielder Izak Rankine will be on the sidelines and is expected to miss about three weeks after injuring his hamstring during last week’s game against Collingwood.

Fellow forward Elliott Himmelberg is also out, due to a cheekbone injury.

“(Rankine) a pretty hard one to replace, though, and he’s been in some really strong form,” Nicks said.

“It’s disappointing for him as an individual and disappointing for us that we won’t have him available, but he’ll get to work now… and we hope we can get him back as soon as possible.

“We’ve got some other changes we are going to have to make with Himmelberg out as well, so we’ll have to have a look at that.

“But we’ve got guys ready to go.”

Kuwarna will announce its final team for week two of Sir Doug Nicholls Round on Friday at 4.30pm (ACST).

The match between Kuwarna and Waalitj Marawar gets underway at Adelaide Oval on Sunday at 4.10pm (ACST).

“They’ve got some young guys who are coming through and bringing some real enthusiasm, obviously (Harley) Reid is the standout in that space but there’s more than Reid,” Nicks said.

“Their older players are fit and playing back to their best footy again, they’ve taken some scalps and are playing a strong brand of footy that we rate really highly.

“It’s going to be a really hard in and under contest and a really tough one for us this week.”

Tickets available here.

Kuwarna Round 11 Squad is: