GWS have been dealt a nightmare double blow with two players limping off in the space of a minute during Friday night’s clash against Hawthorn.
While the Hawks were dealt their own blow with star forward Nick Watson playing no further part after half-time due to a hamstring issue.
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Tough midfielder Brent Daniels was the first to go down, hobbling off in the hands of the trainers to continue his wretched run on the injury front.
Moments later a hush went around the MCG when Max Gruzewski went down clutching his knee on the outer wing after a marking contest with James Sicily.
Gruzewski initially tried to get back to his feet, but went down in a heap as he struggled to put any weight on his leg.
The 21-year-old then got back up and was eventually helped off in the hands of trainers.
“I feel for the young man, this not a good sign,” Matthew Richardson immediately said in commentary.
He looked a shattered man on the bench, appearing to wipe away tears as teammates and staff consoled him.
“These are gut-wrenching scenes, our collective hearts go out to a football in a situation like that,” Al Nicholson said on Channel 7.
The club quickly confirmed Gruzewski suffered a patella dislocation and will not return.
The only positive is it was the dreaded ACL, which would be 12 months on the sidelines.
Daniels was also quickly ruled out with a calf injury.
“He had his head in his hands. He was just shattered. Ice on his calf,” Abbey Holmes said on Channel 7.
Channel 7 reporter Xander McGuire shared more insight on Gruzewski’s situation at half-time.
“So I spoke to Dr Peter Larkins at the start of this season when Dan Curtin dislocated his kneecap, and the info he gave me is that a clean dislocation of the patella can be about 6-8 weeks out of the game,” he said.
“If you need some sort of stabilising surgery, it can go to 3-4 months, and then if it’s cleaned up a bit of bone or cartilage or even ligament, then it gets even more complicated.
“But as you guys alluded to in the coverage, he has avoided the ACL. So most likely a good result.
“He’s got a two year deal on the table. He’s out of contract at the end of this year. But he had about an eight-week stretch without Jesse Hogan in the side, where he had an opportunity to really present himself and prove himself.
“A really tough night for Max Gruzewski.”
Meanwhile, the Hawks ruled Watson out during the half-time break, officially saying he had “hamstring tightness”.
Watson had earlier come from the field to get some work done on his legs.
He was able to return and then kicked two in the space of two minutes to bring up his 100th career goal and give the Hawks a healthy 30-point lead at the long break.
The gun forward then emerged after half-time with his tracksuit, but didn’t appear to be in any serious discomfort.
“It’s not a debilitating issue by any means, but he is done for the night,” McGuire said of Watson.
Richardson added: “That’s a smart decision, you don’t want this guy out for a month with a hammy, he’ll be very very important in their premiership push. I think that’s the right call, any tightness there and get him out.”
More to come …
