Fremantle defender Karl Worner has been concussed in a sickening clash during Sunday’s win over Brisbane.
It was the first of a triple blow for the Dockers, who also lost Oscar McDonald and Brennan Cox to injury, but managed to defeat the highly fancied Lions by 23 points.
Worner was attempting to take an intercept mark after a quick kick from the centre when he crashed straight into Lion Lincoln McCarthy, who was coming from the other side.
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McCarthy was able to complete the mark as Worner crashed into the Lion’s shoulder.
Play was immediately stopped as first players and then medical staff attended to Worner.
It took several minutes before he was loaded onto the stretcher and taken from the field as the crowd fell deathly silent.
As anxious fans looked on, Worner was able to give a thumbs up as he left the field to a standing ovation.
In a further update, boundary reporter Kath Loughnan said Worner was “OK and talking” in the rooms. He later emerged from the rooms and watched the remainder of the game from the bench.
The Dockers were dealt another blow minutes later with defender McDonald hyperextending his knee in an awkward incident.
He was in all sorts of pain before eventually limping from the field.
McDonald was making his debut for Fremantle after previously playing for Melbourne and Carlton.
And they were down another player shortly into the last quarter when Cox limped off with what looked like a serious hamstring injury.
But despite the carnage, the Dockers were able to cruise to a 23-point victory, even after a nightmare start to the match.
The Lions kicked the opening four goals, but Fremantle piled on the next eight to secure the 14.9 (93) to 10.10 (70) win in front of 40,604 fans.
Jye Amiss (four goals) and Josh Treacy (three goals) were superb in attack for Fremantle, while Caleb Serong racked up a club-record 46 disposals to go with 10 clearances.
Eric Hipwood and Joe Daniher kicked three goals apiece for Brisbane, but it continued a poor start to the season for last year’s grand finalists, who coughed up a 46-point lead against Carlton a week earlier on the way to a one-point loss.
The result also means both grand finalists have gone 0-2 to start the season, with Collingwood losing to GWS and Sydney.
Brisbane subbed off Darcy Gardiner at half-time due to a knee injury, while Conor McKenna’s day was ended in the second half by a left hamstring issue.
The Dockers produced an error-riddled horror show for most of the opening quarter as Brisbane raced out to a 27-2 lead.
Fremantle came to life in the final two minutes of the term with snapped goals to Bailey Banfield and Sam Switkowski, with players from both sides involved in a push-and-shove after the siren.
The Dockers’ momentum continued with a five-goals-to-zip second term.
Treacy nailed McKenna with a huge tackle to kick his first goal.
Fellow spearhead Amiss didn’t even touch the ball until the 25-minute mark of the second term, but finished the quarter with a flurry, nailing a tough set shot before taking a flying mark just seconds before the half-time siren to kick his second.
Fremantle went to the break with a 47-29 advantage and all the momentum, and they continued to push out the lead in the third term despite their injury chaos.
– With AAP