Cross-code star Ash Brazill appears set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after becoming the latest AFLW player to suffer a suspected serious knee injury in Collingwood’s 20-point defeat to Melbourne.
The Magpies’ defender and Diamonds netballer twisted her left knee and slumped to the turf in the back pocket during on Friday evening’s third quarter at Marvel Stadium.
Brazill was taken off on a stretcher but gave a ‘thumbs-up’ to the applauding crowd as she was driven around the boundary line.
Teammate Ruby Schleicher also failed to complete the match after hurting her left wrist before halftime.
The injuries exacerbated Collingwood’s pain as a 7.4 (46) to 4.2 (26) defeat left them in danger of slipping out of the top-three finals places in Conference B by the end of the round.
Melbourne leapfrogged their rivals into second spot behind Fremantle as veteran midfielder Karen Paxman continued her hot run of form.
Paxman had a game-high 24 disposals and six clearances as a key contributor alongside Tyla Hanks and Libby Birch (15 possessions each).
Kate Hore and Casey Sherriff also impressed as the Demons spread the scoring load with seven individual goal kickers.
Melbourne held a two-goal advantage at quarter-time but two defensive infringements in as many minutes early in the second term led directly to Collingwood goals through ruck Sharni Layton and Jaimee Lambert.
Busy cross-coder Layton put as much vigour into her celebration as her play and fired up her teammates, with the Magpies briefly levelling the scores.
But a lookaway handpass from Tegan Cunningham teed up young livewire Eden Zanker for a goal and the Dees restored their lead.
Several thousand fans had made their way into the stadium by halftime in the first contest of a double-header with the AFL representative match.
They saw Melbourne grind out a comfortable win, with the Magpies two players short in the final term.
Brazill had been due to complete a rare sporting double by backing up for the Diamonds against an All-Stars side in Netball Australia’s bushfire charity match on Sunday in Sydney.
