{"id":628105,"date":"2026-04-24T15:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628105\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:27:10","slug":"jai-culley-suspected-acl-injury-melbourne-demons-vs-richmond-tigers-steven-king-press-conference-kade-chandler-interview-anzac-day-eve-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628105\/","title":{"rendered":"Jai Culley suspected ACL injury, Melbourne Demons vs Richmond Tigers, Steven King press conference, Kade Chandler interview, Anzac Day Eve, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne head coach Steven King says his club is \u201cfearing the worst\u201d for winger Jai Culley, after the 23-year-old went down with a suspected left ACL injury in Friday night\u2019s 11-goal win over Richmond on Anzac Day Eve.<\/a><\/p>\n

The much-loved Demon, who has already previously ruptured the ligament in his right knee, went down in agony trying to change direction amid a contest in the second stanza.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Culley was aided by a physio either side of him as he left the ground for testing, which while inconclusive, was indicative of a serious injury.<\/p>\n

The emotional Langwarrin product was embraced by his teammates at half time as he joined them on the field, sporting an ice pack over the area before wearing a compression at full time in the changerooms. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it doesn\u2019t look great whenever your player goes down like that and can\u2019t return. Unfortunately, we\u2019re fearing the worst, but he\u2019ll get scans tomorrow,\u201d King told journalists in his post-match press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll cross all my fingers and toes that it\u2019s a good result, but we feel for Jai. Hopefully it\u2019s better news than anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate. He\u2019s worked really hard over summer and is a really important part of what he does being on a wing with his size and athleticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jai Culley with medical staff after the 2026 Anzac Day Eve match between the Richmond Tigers and the Melbourne Demons at the MCG on April 24, 2026 (Photo by Michael Willson via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

After being delisted by West Coast at the end of the 2024 season, Culley made his club debut in Round 21 last year and had played every game since heading into Friday night.<\/p>\n

Alongside many of his teammates, the 23-year-old looks to have improved his game considerably this season amid a fast-paced, blitzing Melbourne set up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look good. Hopefully it\u2019s not as bad as what we think, we absolutely adore him,\u201d half forward Kade Chandler told foxfooty.com.au in the rooms post-game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love what he gives to our club culturally. Obviously on-field he\u2019s a massive asset, but around the changerooms he\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely going to have to wrap our arms around him. It\u2019s going to be a long journey if it is the worst-case scenario, but we\u2019ve got everything crossed that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culley will join the likes of Jake Melksham (ankle), Jack Viney (Achilles), Christian Salem (foot), Trent Rivers (knee) and Harrison Petty on the sidelines with injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis left knee buckled on him just as the right knee did three years ago for West Coast against the Richmond Football Club \u2026 It\u2019s a very similar incident, albeit to the other leg (with) that ACL mechanism,\u201d Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph said at half time of the broadcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact he came out and was absolutely shattered, walked off the bench at half time and every one of his teammates went to him. He had ice on that knee, that\u2019s the glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we saw with Sam Darcy last week, if they were 100 per cent sure he\u2019d done his ACL, they wouldn\u2019t be bothering there \u2026 it\u2019s a very small glimmer of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melbourne take on Sydney at the SCG next Sunday afternoon, looking to extend their red-hot 5-2 start to season 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne head coach Steven King says his club is \u201cfearing the worst\u201d for winger Jai Culley, after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,2095,162980,64,63,689,55,639,304477,2362,49771,304476,2105,5330,25865,36895,12092,681,220390,304475,7804,7198,673,2041,2067,677,4873,668,6858,672,211480,12105,85,79260,670,2614,4899,9020],"class_list":{"0":"post-628105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-anzac-day-eve","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-football-league","15":"tag-australianfootballleague","16":"tag-chandler-interview","17":"tag-contract-talks","18":"tag-cruel-blow","19":"tag-day-eve","20":"tag-getty-images-inc","21":"tag-head-coach","22":"tag-jack-viney","23":"tag-jai-culley","24":"tag-jake-melksham","25":"tag-jon-ralph","26":"tag-kade-chandler","27":"tag-king-press-conference","28":"tag-melbourne-demons","29":"tag-michael-willson","30":"tag-new-south-wales","31":"tag-north-america","32":"tag-northern-america","33":"tag-oceania","34":"tag-post-match-press-conference","35":"tag-press-conference","36":"tag-richmond","37":"tag-richmond-tigers","38":"tag-right-knee","39":"tag-sam-darcy","40":"tag-sports","41":"tag-steven-king","42":"tag-sydney","43":"tag-united-states-of-america","44":"tag-virginia","45":"tag-young-gun"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}