Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield rushed to hospital

Patrick Dangerfield was put in an ambulance and taken to hospital. His football club has now revealed scary new details.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 15: Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats is tackled by Connor Rozee of the Power during the 2023 AFL Round 14 match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Geelong Cats at Adelaide Oval on June 15, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield suffered a partially collapsed lung and cracked rib after he was hit from behind during the Cats’ 38-point loss to Port Adelaide on Thursday night.

Dangerfield was only taken to hospital after the game, despite the ugly blow to his lower back region coming from a collision with Dan Houston in the second quarter.

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The club confirmed late Thursday night that he had been taken to a hospital in Adelaide “as a precaution for further assessment”.

The ABC reported Dangerfield was taken in an ambulance.

The Cats on Friday confirmed Dangerfield had suffered internal injuries.

The club said in a statement: “Dangerfield was taken to hospital after the game where he underwent further assessment and scans, he returned to the team hotel on Thursday night and will return to Melbourne on Friday by car.

“The Cats medical team will continue to monitor Dangerfield to determine a return to play timeline.”

SEN’s Sam Edmund earlier posted on Twitter the football club also had concerns about the 2016 Brownlow medallist’s kidneys.

Coach Chris Scott was unable to shed much light on Dangerfield’s injury.

“He got that knock and he just progressively seized up more and more to the point where, he’s a warrior, but it looked to us like he couldn’t move,” Scott said.

Patrick Dangerfield played out the whole game. Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“He said that he wanted to keep trying, but it was clear he just couldn’t have an impact on the game from pretty early in the second quarter.

“Our medical staff are brilliant and they will be providing the best care possible.

“I could say that it’s a back spasm or something like that, but the honest answer is ‘I don’t know’.”

Dangerfield was playing his first game back after a hamstring injury suffered against old side Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium in Round 8.

Tanner Bruhn was also a casualty on a tough night for the Cats, with the young midfielder subbed out of the game after half-time with a shoulder injury.

It continued a worrying trend for the reigning premiers, who slipped to a 6-7 record after conceding seven unanswered goals in the third quarter.

“The pattern has been ‘get a couple back, lose a couple’,” Scott said.

“It’s not an excuse, but there is a really strong correlation around the competition at the moment that teams who have good availability and good cohesion (are winning).

“We were case in point last year, we were going ok and we found a way to win some games and when we got them all back and they played together week after week we hit our straps.

“We’re optimistic that can happen again.”

The elbow contact appeared to come from under the ribs. Photo: Fox Footy.

Patrick Dangerfield was hit from behind. Photo: Fox Footy.

The Cats conceded over 100 points against Port, the fifth time that’s happened in 13 games this season, compared to last year when it happened just once.

“I think if you go back and compare us to us at our best there are a whole range of reasons (why) and most of them revolve around a lack of cohesion and personnel we’ve had,” Scott said.

“Even the guys that we brought back, we didn’t expect them to be at their best straight away after missing so much footy.

“Even when we have got guys back they go and get injured again.

“That’s been the pattern a little bit for us.

If you look at the outcome, we’re just getting scored against when the ball goes inside our defensive 50, which is traditionally something we’ve been good at.

“But it’s clearly an area we need to improve.

“Clearly, there are some things that aren’t working for us at the moment, but we’re going to hang in.”

— with Jason Phelan, NCA NewsWire

Originally published as Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield rushed to hospital