AFL 2020: Brandon Starcevich knocked out after hitting the turf
A young Brisbane Lions star was left seeing stars following a nasty head first fall to the turf that left him face down for a while.
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The Brisbane Lions showed why they’re considered one of the premiership favourites in 2020 as they put the Gold Coast Suns to the sword at the Gabba.
A dominant four quarter effort from the Lions saw them secure the 13.10 (88) to 6.7 (43) victory.
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Despite the one-sided nature of the contest, the Lions have been left counting the cost after losing three players in the first half.
Young Lions player Brandon Starcevich was the first to go down in what was scary scenes in the second quarter.
A kick deep inside Gold Coast’s 50 from Brandon Ellis landed around 15m from goal with Starcevich flying in from the side of the pack in an attempt to spoil the ball.
Unfortunately his desire to impact the contest saw his legs taken out from under him and left him crashing to the turf face first.
As he hit the deck he remained prone face down before play was brought to a halt as training staff attended to him before he got back to his feet and walked to the bench.
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Moments after Starcevich went down the Lions lost Lincoln McCarthy after he copped the full force of a knee to his quad from ruckman Archie Smith.
Smith lumbered out of a centre bounce after the ball and slammed his left knee right into McCarthy who instantly hit the deck and slowly hobbled from the ground.
Despite looking like his night was all but over, McCarthy strapped up the nasty looking corkie and returned to the game in the final few minutes of the quarter.
Jarrod Berry was the third player to go down after landing heavily on his right shoulder and popping it out. Both Starcevich and Berry were ruled out for the remainder of the game with real concerns looming over the nature of the shoulder injury for Berry only weeks away from the finals.
Midfield superstar and Brownlow Medal favourite Lachie Neale was everywhere throughout the game as he racked up 33 disposals despite close attention from Touk Miller.
Lions skipper Dayne Zorko was equally as damaging as he collected 24 disposals and slotted two goals.
Livewire forwards Cameron Rayner and Charlie Cameron looked unstoppable in front of goal, combining for five goals.
The win lifts the Lions into second spot on the ladder behind only Port Adelaide on percentage with their two final games being against Sydney and Carlton as they look to secure a home final.
Originally published as AFL 2020: Brandon Starcevich knocked out after hitting the turf