Western Bulldogs AFL forward Aaron Naughton appears to have escaped a serious knee injury after hobbling off in their 58-point elimination-final loss to GWS.
The 19-year-old hyper-extended his left knee as he flew for a mark late in the third quarter on Saturday at Giants Stadium.
Naughton, who had booted two goals for the Bulldogs, was assisted from the field by two trainers and did not return.
Coach Luke Beveridge somewhat allayed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) fears, post-game, but said the young Dog would be sent for scans.
“The initial assessment of the injury isn’t that it’s extreme, but they’ve got to scan it to work out if he might need surgery,” Beveridge told reporters.
“It doesn’t seem to be an ACL. It seems to be lateral, but I’d rather not comment in any detail.
“We’ll let our practitioners work it out, he’ll have a scan and we’ll publicise that as soon as we can.”
Naughton has starred in his second AFL season, booting 32 goals for the Bulldogs who had come home with a wet sail to finish seventh before being bounced out in the first week of finals.