Carlton has been dealt a crushing injury blow to one of its stars.
Plus Richmond’s narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs has gotten even more painful with another key tall to miss weeks of footy.
Get the latest AFL injury news in Casualty Ward!
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KNEE BLOW TO SIDELINE DOCHERTY UP TO SIX WEEKS
Star Blues defender Sam Docherty will miss around 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus in another brutal setback to the veteran.
The 29-year old, who sat out the 2018 and 2019 seasons due to consecutive ACL injuries, underwent surgery to repair the setback sustained during the club’s Good Friday win over North Melbourne.
After Docherty reported soreness in the days after the Good Friday clash, scans revealed the extent of the setback.
“It’s no doubt disappointing for Sam to be sidelined for the coming weeks, given he picked up this season right where he left off last year, in great form,” Blues football boss Brad Lloyd said in a statement.
“He’s the ultimate professional though, so once he completes surgery, he’ll launch into his rehab and do everything required to get back to play, which we expect to be in four to six weeks.”
It’s an untimely blow to a Carlton team yet to drop a game this season, although it is set to welcome back Sam Walsh for his first game of 2023 in Thursday night’s clash against Adelaide to open Gather Round.
TIGERS COP SECOND HORROR INJURY WITH STAR TO MISS WEEKS
Richmond co-captain Toby Nankervis has joined star forward Tom Lynch in the surgeon’s room after suffering an ankle injury.
The ruckman will be out for “the medium term”, according to the club, after suffering a syndesmosis injury on his left ankle. He will require surgery.
While Nankervis was well beaten by Tim English in last Saturday’s loss to the Western Bulldogs it’s still a major blow to Damien Hardwick’s side.
Nankervis is the clear No.1 ruckman at Punt Road with young Samson Ryan, who has been playing as a forward, the only other Tiger with double-digit hitouts this season.
Lynch was referred to the Tribunal for a collision with Dogs defender Alex Keath but will miss up to eight weeks anyway after injuring his foot.
“Disaster. Your No.1 ruckman and your No.1 forward. You don’t replace those players,” Tigers great Matthew Richardson said on 3AW.
CATS COP RUCK REPEAT
Geelong had an early injury scare in its Easter Monday clash against Hawthorn, with durable utility Mark Blicavs going down to the MCG rooms after copping a nasty knock in a ruck contest.
Blicavs was contesting a centre bounce ruck contest with Hawks recruit Lloyd Meek when the latter appeared to raise his knee and make contact with Blicavs’ ribs.
Blicavs was awarded a free kick, but Patrick Dangerfield quickly took the advantage as Blicavs struggled to get to his feet.
Cats trainers rushed out into the middle of the MCG to Blicavs, who was hunched over on the turf for a good minute before slowly making his way from the field.
Blicavs, arguably the most durable player in the AFL over the past decade, was able to return to the field midway through the second term.
It comes just a few weeks after Cats ruck Rhys Stanley was subbed out of the loss to Carlton after copping a knee to the midriff from Blues ruck Tom de Koning. Stanley missed Geelong’s Round 3 clash with the Gold Coast Suns, while De Koning was handed a misconduct fine by the MRO before escaping any penalty after submitting a written appeal.
“This was controversial at the time because Chris Scott spoke about it publicly, highlighting that can’t be acceptable for a ruck contest. There was no free kick paid that night, but he did get (punished by the MRO),” dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna told Fox Footy.
“Then again in the first quarter here to Mark Blicavs. It is a very dangerous act for ruckmen.
“It’s certainly a talking point, particularly with Chris Scott, who’s already voiced his disapproval with that sort of action.”
