Pies lose Elliott for season; Giants stun Lions with 14-goal blitz; Promising Blue done for year

Elliott’s knee injury confirmed

Greg Dundas

Veteran Collingwood forward Jamie Elliott’s season is over after scans on Sunday confirmed he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the final minutes of Saturday’s win over the Eagles.

Elliott, to turn 34 in August, signed a two-year contract extension at the Magpies last year that takes him to the end of the 2027 season.

There was four and a half minutes left on the clock when Elliott flew for a mark in the forward pocket at the Punt Rd end of the ground on Saturday night and landed awkwardly, immediately clutching his knee.

Collingwood led by 15 points at the time, and a heated melee broke out between both sides as Elliott lay on the ground in pain.

The Collingwood players remonstrated with Eagles defender Tylar Young, but his coach Andrew McQualter was quick to exonerate Young after the game from any suggestion of tunnelling. The match review officer’s report on Sunday backed McQualter’s assessment, with the incident not even rating a mention.

“I don’t know what they were remonstrating for. It’s disappointing that Jamie got injured, but there’s nothing more to it,” McQualter said.

Elliott has played 230 games since his debut at Collingwood in 2012, missing the entire seasons of 2016 and 2018 to injury.

“We are all incredibly disappointed for Jamie,” Collingwood’s executive general manager of football Charlie Gardiner said.

“Scans this morning confirmed that he has ruptured his ACL and has also sustained some bone bruising in the knee.

“Jamie has endured a number of significant injury setbacks across his career and for him to face this latest setback is unfortunate for him and his family and for us as a club. He’s a much loved and respected leader at our club and we’re all feeling for him.

“We will miss his on-field presence this year but he will no doubt continue to play an important role across the club during his recovery.”

Three injuries on Saturday night put a dampener on the celebrations marking Elliott’s teammate Scott Pendlebury breaking the AFL games record.

Captain Darcy Moore left the field just before half-time with what the Magpies described on Sunday as “a moderate grade hamstring injury”. Second-year forward Will Hayes, like Elliott, was injured in the fourth quarter, dislocating his shoulder.

Collingwood said both Moore and Hayes would undergo further assessments before an update could be provided on the timeline for their return to the field.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae defended his decision to play Moore, who’s had a variety of injury concerns this season, in the unfamiliar role of relief ruckman after the game, but lamented the skipper’s lack of continuity. “He just can’t get himself moving,” McRae said.

Records tumble as Lions cop one-quarter GWS blitz

A record-breaking 14-goal third-quarter blitz has powered GWS to an extraordinary 78-point win over two-time defending AFL premiers Brisbane.

The Giants held a six-point lead at halftime, but their tsunami style swamped Brisbane in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 14.2 to 0.3 on their way to a 26.10 (166) to 13.10 (88) win at Engie Stadium.

The onslaught eclipsed the 13.4 Essendon kicked in the third term against Footscray in 1982, and was the fourth-highest scoring quarter in VFL/AFL history.

They also registered their biggest ever score, going past the 162 points they posted against Essendon in 2023.

Captain Toby Greene kicked five goals, four of them in the third quarter, and Jake Stringer pitched in with a handful of his own. Max Gruzewski and Aaron Cadman scored three each.

Brisbane kicked the first four goals of the final quarter, but GWS booted the next three.

Making the Giants’ feat even more remarkable was the fact that their injury woes continued to mount.

They suffered a blow before the match when veteran Lachie Whitfield was ruled out with hamstring awareness and was replaced by Harry Oliver. The Giants then lost key defender Jack Buckley to a hamstring issue in the first quarter.

Lachie Neale gathered a team-high 32 touches for Brisbane, and Cam Rayner and Kai Lohmann each kicked three goals for the Lions.

AAP, more to come

Promising young Blue suffers ruptured ACL

Andrew Wu

Carlton have been dealt a massive blow with promising youngster Matt Carroll rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the Blues’ victory over Port Adelaide.

The Blues confirmed the news on Sunday, putting a dampener on their 34-point win over the Power the night before in Adelaide.

The injury comes a week after Carroll’s career-best game against the Western Bulldogs, where he booted three goals from the wing in his 27th match.

Carroll’s left knee buckled while chasing a loose ball early in the first quarter. He immediately grabbed the back of his knee then hobbled to the bench on the other side of the ground.

Carroll is the second Blue to suffer an ACL injury after small forward Jesse Motlop, who was injured in the preseason, while developing defender Harry O’Farrell is on the recovery trail from one suffered late last year. Gun youngster Jagga Smith also underwent a knee reconstruction last year.

Carroll, 20, will be placed on the Blues’ inactive list, giving the club a pick in the upcoming mid-season draft.

“Matt had been in excellent form this season and was coming off a strong performance the week prior, so clearly this is a disappointing setback for him,” Carlton football boss Chris Davies said.

“While we’re all disappointed for Matt, we know how resilient he is, which will serve him well throughout his recovery.

“Our priority will be supporting Matt, with the club and its medical team guiding him through every stage of his rehabilitation.”

Carroll’s injury creates an opening for veteran Blake Acres to return to the senior team this week for his first game of the season. Acres, who has been in excellent form in the seconds, was pulled out of the Blues’ VFL match on Sunday.

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