Collingwood star Jeremy Howe ruptures posterior cruciate ligament in ‘sickening’ moment

Collingwood star Jeremy Howe is set for long stint on the sideline as debate begins over whether it will spike the Magpies’ premiership chances.

Collingwood's Jeremy Howe injures his knee colliding with Giants Jacob Hopper.

Collingwood star Jeremy Howe is set for a long recovery after it was revealed the Magpie defender suffered a horrific injury in the two-point loss to the GWS Giants.

Howe knee twisted in an ugly moment when he clashed with Jacob Hopper and piling on the pain after another close fought loss to the Giants.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Watch every match of every round Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

The extent of the injury was revealed on Saturday with Collingwood revealing he ruptured the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and suffered medial ligament damage in the same knee.

He will reportedly see a specialist on Monday for recovery options, including surgery.

It was a horrific moment with Giants leader Phil Davis even describing the incident as “sickening”.

Magpies coach Nathan Buckley suggested the in-form defender would spend plenty of time on the sidelines.

“We won’t see him for a while,” Buckley said. “His knee hasn’t come out of it that well.

“We’re devastated for him … he wears his heart on his sleeve and he invests everything of himself.

“He’s shattered. These guys have been sitting on their heels for quite a while (during the COVID-19 lockdown), we’ve all been taken away from doing the things we love in some shape or form.”

It was a horrible moment as Howe left the field in pain.

On Triple M Footy, Brian Taylor reported that a low grade injury will have potentially six weeks on the sidelines, while a high grade will see six to 12 months.

But questions over whether the injury would sour the sides’ premiership ambitions were quickly rubbished although it would change plenty about the shape of the side.

“What it does to Collingwood is extraordinary, really. It changes so much,” Kangaroos dual premiership player David King said on Fox Footy.

“You can see why Nathan (Buckley)’s so disappointed. You’re going to get injuries, but you just cross your fingers and hope it’s not the stars. And unfortunately tonight it is.

“We haven’t really seen Collingwood too often without him.”

Jason Dunstall added that it “changes the dynamics” of the side and how they counterpunch and attack.

“All of a sudden it means Nathan Buckley’s going to have to do something different, because you don’t have another Jeremy Howe in your line-up,” he said on Fox Footy.

“You don’t have a player with that explosive leap that takes the game on, who attacks, takes big contested marks and then can rebound and really use the ball well going the other way.

“Whatever the injury is … he’s going to be out for a while, so they’re going to have to fashion something different.”

Ouch.

Buckley said the side will “have cover” with Adam Treloar one still to return, while Nick Dal Santo believes that Steele Sidebottom will move to halfback to cover the role.

Jeremy Howe is a wonderful player but it's very premature to say Collingwood can't win a flag without him.

Remember this is a team that still has Adam Treloar to come in and an otherwise mostly clean bill of health.

You don't go from #1 seed to can't win it like that.

— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) June 27, 2020

A clearly disappointed Howe spoke to media briefly on Saturday morning and said he wouldn’t rule out a role later in the year but would still play a role around the team. But he remained positive despite the horror injury.

“I’ve seen a still shot, the leg probably wasn’t in the most great position,” he said. “But it is what it is and I’ll move on, deal with it and rehab accordingly and hopefully get back.

“It’s not ideal but these things happen./ I’ve been fortunate over 10 years to have minimal injuries and you get them at times, unfortunately it’s my time now but the boys will continue to play the way they play and I’ll be there supporting them 100 per cent.”