AFL LIVE: Young Eagle’s scary knee injury; Gold Coast’s challenge to avoid season freefall

Bailey Humphrey has converted the Suns’ second, but Ben King botched a set shot from 50m. Boom youngster Harry Dean has the job on King, the man expected to depart for Hawthorn at the end of the season. King has not been in the best of form recently. As for the Blues, they are under the pump here. The Suns’ pressure inside attacking 50 has been great.

And the Suns have the first goal of the afternoon, a 50m penalty against Wade Derksen, leading to an easy shot for Jed Walter from the goal square. That was a tough call by the umpire.

Caretaker Carlton coach Josh Fraser said the Blues were hungry to get better, denying the wildcard round was on his team’s radar.

The Blues remain in the mix for a finish between seventh and tenth heading into today’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns.

“We continue to lean back on our process more than the outcome. We are still trying to build habits that stack up now and into the future,” Fraser told Fox Footy.

“We prepare for their [Suns] best … we know they have an out-number game and a forward-handball game.”

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick says it’s important for the Suns to take the parochial Carlton crowd out of today’s game.

The Suns have lost eight straight, and are desperate to remain in the hunt for the wildcard round.

“Last week we were pretty good … [we have got to] take the crowd out of it. Get the ball in our front half,” Hardwick told Fox Footy.

Hardwick said the Blues have added more weapons since caretaker coach Josh Fraser took charge, noting a greater emphasis on outside run.

The Gold Coast Suns haven’t had a win for more than two months – a period stretching back to 15 May. Their recent form line:

Round 11: North Melbourne won by 6
Round 12: BYE
Round 13: Brisbane won by 31
Round 14: Geelong won by 45
Round 15: Hawthorn won by 16
Round 16: Fremantle won by 51
Round 17: Collingwood won by 6
Round 18: Adelaide won by 79
Round 19: Western Bulldogs won by 9

Patrick Dangerfield has revealed he will likely need to take a break in the coming weeks to manage a troublesome adductor injury, as Geelong face a delicate balancing act between preserving their captain and maintaining their finals push.

The Cats skipper, who battled through obvious discomfort in Friday night’s statement victory over Melbourne after an incident just before half-time, said he would undergo further medical assessment after feeling the problem worsen during the match.

“I’ll see the doctor Monday and see where it’s at,” Dangerfield told The Age after the Cats’ 18.9 (117) to 14.13 (97) win.

The veteran admitted that, ideally, he would be afforded time to rest the injury, but said Geelong’s injury list and precarious ladder position meant that decision would not be straightforward.

“In an ideal scenario there’d probably be time for rest, but we’ve just had injuries at the wrong time. We’ve just got to find a way,” he said.

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Jye Amiss kicked five goals and Murphy Reid produced a third-quarter clinic as Fremantle continued their western derby dominance with a 70-point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium.

The Dockers led by just eight points at half-time of Friday night’s match before kicking 11 goals to one in the second half to race out easy 16.16 (112) to 6.6 (42) winners.

Amiss took seven marks inside 50m on the way to 5.1, while last year’s Rising Star winner Murphy Reid (26 disposals, one goal) snared the Glendinning-Allan medal as best afield after turning the contest on its head with a mesmerising nine-possession third quarter.

Matthew Johnson (29 disposals, six clearances) and Caleb Serong (26 disposals, seven clearances) also had big games in front of 56,616 fans - a record home crowd for a Fremantle regular-season game.

There was late concern for West Coast mid-season recruit Oliver Francou when his right knee was gashed open by boot studs during a tackle on Andrew Brayshaw.