An emotional West Coast coach Adam Simpson says impressive youngster Jai Culley has likely ruptured his ACL in another devastating injury blow for the Eagles.
Simpson said the initial signs were not good for the 20-year-old, who was playing just his second game on the MCG in his home state.
Culley was consoled by Simpson and teammates at quarter time after he suffered the injury in a marking contest midway through the first term, before going down to the rooms for the remainder of the game.
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The Eagles coach said it was potentially another major setback for his side, warning fans that there was no “quick fix” to escape the dire on-field situation fuelled by a non-stop raft of injuries to established senior players.
“We’re getting challenged at the moment with availability, as much as we want to be consistent on the field and make no excuses.
“Last week we took a step back – we sort of see the bits where we get overwhelmed as a real challenge to try and change.
“We’ve got to keep the glass half-full as much as we can, I know it’s a challenging time for all our supporters as well … but we are on a journey, we are working really hard on development, getting our young players through the side, hit the draft right … it’s just not going to be a quick fix.”
Asked whether he was more upset by Saturday’s performance than the previous loss to Carlton, Simpson said: “One of my players might’ve just done his knee, but I’m not sure how you’d feel about that, but it’s disappointing”.
“The game in itself we thought we had opportunities this week to perform better, but we’ve got to keep moving forward,” he said.
“One of our players has gone down, so apologies if I’m not jumping out of my skin.”
-Ed Bourke
Later on Saturday night, Western Bulldogs gun Adam Treloar suffered another hamstring setback during his side’s win over the Giants in Canberra.
Treloar, who’s battled numerous hamstring problems throughout his career, limped off the field midway through the third term and was subbed out with the injury to prematurely put an end to his strong 24-disposal performance.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge revealed post-match that the 30-year old has played through such issues this season but remained in doubt to face the Carlton next Saturday night
“He’s OK. Believe it or not Adam has been a little compromised for most of the year,” Beveridge told reporters.
“He felt a little bit of agitation in his medial hamstring and in the end we took him off with a precaution.
“He’s probably got a slight injury there, we just can’t give you any more than that. We’re just hoping that it’s minor.
“Surprisingly enough, he’s been able to play through some discomfort and hamstring stuff over the years.
“We’ll wait and see whether he’s able to play against Carlton.”
Treloar missed the Bulldogs’ Round 2 loss to St Kilda due to hamstring tightness.
Also on Saturday, Geelong skipper Patrick Dangerfieldsustained a “confusing” hamstring injury against Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium that’ll require further assessment.
Dangerfield starred in the first half against his old side before getting subbed out minutes into the third quarter of the 26-point win.
Geelong coach Chris Scott however said post-match the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.
“It seems confusing in some ways because (being) subbed off with a hamstring, it’s not great news,” Scott told reporters.
“But I would be clear if it was a really serious one, because it was our fear because he was subbed off pretty quickly, but that wasn’t an indication of the severity, more an indication that there was something there and something we shouldn’t take a risk with.
“He’d been so damaging early in the game as well, if he was bursting out of the pack max acceleration, you’d understand it, but this a bit confusing to him and generally when it’s confusing it’s a good sign.
“In my opinion the injury history is very relevant when it’s a recurrence of a similar issue, and I can’t remember Pat doing a hamstring.”
Dangerfield said he was hopeful it was “on the minor scale”.
Dangerfield injury ‘on the minor scale’ | 00:57
“(It was) a bit of hamstring awareness, I was like I reckon I have done it, but on a hopefully minor scale,” he said on Fox Footy.
“Having done one before … this doesn’t feel like that but it is not worth the risk a minute into the second half.
“I will scan it (on Sunday) and then reassess where it is at.”
In the same game, Crows coach Matthew Nicks confirmed Adelaide defender Nick Muray suffered a concussion, ruling him out of next Sunday’s clash with St Kilda.
In the Gold Coast, Suns defender Charlie Ballard was stretchered off the field with a neck concern during the club’s narrow loss to Melbourne in worrying scenes after a heavy collision with Jacob van Rooyen.
In the fourth quarter of the game, van Rooyen made high contact with Ballard after a failed spoil attempt that left the Gold Coast backman grabbing the back of his head as he remained floored for some time.
Although there was no malice in the act, van Rooyen is set to face MRO scrutiny for the incident, while Suns coach Stuart Dew was hopeful Ballard’s setback wasn’t serious and said his exit from the game was “precautionary”.
van Rooyen in trouble after ‘clumsy’ hit | 01:05
“He’s alright. He obviously got the one on the beak (earlier) and he was OK, just got the watery eyes. I think it was just his neck at the end there, I think it was just real precautionary,” Dew said.
“I think he said ‘felt my neck crack’, which probably fair enough after what happened. Just precautionary from the doctors, which is the right thing to do.”
On Friday night, Lions defender Keidean Coleman appeared to suffer a leg injury during the third quarter of his side’s win over Carlton.
However Brisbane coach Chris Fagan post-match downplayed concerns around Coleman, revealing the 23-year old was only cramping in the area.
