There is major concern for star Western Bulldogs key forward Sam Darcy after he went down clutching at his left knee at GMBHA Stadium on Friday night.
Geelong‘s star key forward, two-time Coleman Medal winner Jeremy Cameron, ripped the game apart with a 10-goal haul, seven of which he booted in a scintillating first-half display to lay the platform for a 75-point thumping.
Darcy was on the lead in the left-forward pocket when he collapsed to the ground in agony.
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Sam Darcy on Friday night. Getty
The former No.2 draft pick lay on the ground face-down in the grass for a brief period of time before being assisted from the field by medics.
And on a night described as “traumatic” by coach Luke Beveridge, the Bulldogs also lost Tom Liberatore to concussion and James O’Donnell and Rory Lobb to hamstring injuries.
“I think we’re trying to process it [the game] on two fronts,” Beveridge said.
“The carnage that you’re talking about, it’s pretty traumatic, and in a sense I was pleased with the way the players for different patches in probably two to two-and-a-half quarters were able to at least steady things a bit as they’re losing teammates.”
It’s feared Darcy ruptured his ACL, but Beveridge kept his comments about the gun 22-year-old in check.
“Sam went down with what could be a serious knee injury,” Beveridge said.
“I just gave him a pat as I came past, I haven’t spoken to him.
“Until we know exactly what it is – last time when he hyperextended his knee we thought that was going to be a season-ending situation, [but] it ended up being a lot less than that.
“So it’s too early to actually know, to be too morbid about it.”
Bulldogs footy boss Matt Egan admitted “the mechanism didn’t look great”.
“It is obviously a pretty serious knee injury,” Egan told Fox Footy.
“But we just can’t confirm everything.
“We need to be positive and wait for the scans.”
Richmond great Matthew Richardson said on the Seven broadcast: “I feel sick.”
The Cats sprung from eighth on the ladder to fourth in their 19.17 (131) to 8.8 (56) victory, with the Dogs falling from fourth to fifth.
Cameron had a slow start to the season, managing only seven goals from four games and going goalless against Adelaide in round four – but the five-time All Australian piled on 10 of the best on Friday night in a performance the Dogs had no answers for.
It’s the second-biggest bag of Cameron’s AFL career, behind the 11-goal haul he kicked against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in round 21 last season.
His magical 10th came with barely five seconds left on the clock.
He outmuscled Buku Khamis to take a contested grab in the right-forward pocket, then played on and snapped it through.
Roaring mightily with his arms outstretched, he took off on a run inside a rumbling Kardinia Park.
Jeremy Cameron celebrates booting one of his 10 goals. Getty
Cameron gave a nod to teammate Mark Blicavs, who played his 300th AFL game on Friday night.
“It’s just important to play well when you’ve got big milestones,” Cameron told Fox Footy.
“It’s something that I’ve learnt coming down here to the Cats. The boys talk about it, ‘Hawk’ [former Geelong teammate Tom Hawkins] used to talk about it, and ‘Scotty’ [coach Christ Scott] definitely talked about it before the game. So it was nice to get on the end of a few.”
Blicavs summed up to a tee his show-stopping teammate.
“It’s amazing,” Blicavs told Fox Footy.
“He’s so smart and when he gets his opportunities he makes them count.
“He’s moving well, I’m glad he brought his game and I’m pumped we got the win.”