Fans all say the same after Christian Petracca injuries revealed

Furious football fans have all been left saying the same thing after a Melbourne star’s nightmare injuries were revealed on Tuesday.

Christian Petracca is set for a long stint on the sidelines. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The horror extent of Christian Petracca’s injuries have left the football world all asking the same thing.

The Melbourne superstar was taken to hospital on Monday after taking a knee to the ribs from Collingwood captain Darcy Moore just before the quarter-time siren.

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Petracca returned to the field and played for 20 minutes before he was subbed out shortly after halftime and was taken from the ground in an ambulance.

On Tuesday it was revealed he has four broken ribs, lacerations to the spleen, plus a small puncture in the lung.

Prior to the injury details coming out, North Melbourne premiership player David King questioned why the club risked sending him out after the nasty incident.

“You have to play the long game with this one. I’m not sending him back out there knowing that there’s at least some sort of rib damage,” King said on SEN.

“If you have a look at the first three seconds after he went back on. He couldn’t run effectively and he couldn’t hold onto the ball for more than one second because he was going to get nailed.

“Don’t give me your ‘100 per cent sure on where he is with his health’ because you’re not. Nobody is. So it’s an educated guess to put him back out there. It’s a calculated risk. It’s a risk I’m not taking in round 13.

“I just think it’s a poor decision. It’s not a medical decision. That’s a full coaching, footy manager, doctor, player, that’s a collaborative decision. To me in Round 13 that’s a bad call.”

Christian Petracca is set for a long stint on the sidelines. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

In a club statement on Tuesday afternoon, Melbourne’s GM of performance Alan Richardson said Petracca’s health was the club’s top priority.

“Obviously, Christian’s health is the number one priority for us at the moment. The next few weeks will be crucial, and we’ll be monitoring his progress closely to make sure he heals properly and fully. As his recovery progresses, we will look towards a return to play timeline,” Richardson said.

“He’s obviously an extremely important player for the team, but his health and recovery are our top priorities right now.”

Fox Footy’s Gerrard Whateley said it was an “indefensible position” for the Demons to state they took every care necessary.

Whateley said on SEN: “Those injuries can only be determined once a player is sent to hospital and there were enough warning signs there”.

The moment Petracca sustained his injuries. Pic: Michael Klein

After news of the injuries were revealed, social media users were quick to point the finger at the club’s medical staff for allowing him to head back out onto the MCG.

Titus O’Reily wrote: “Looking forward to Melbourne telling us that sending Petracca out ‘put him at no greater risk.’”

One user wrote: “This is awful news for Petracca. But how awful is Melbourne’s medical team to let him back on for an entire Quarter before he had to call it himself.”

A second added: “Questions should be asked of the medicos at Melbourne who allowed him back on the ground.”

A third wrote: “Fans should be disappointed they put him back on the field. He was clearly in huge amounts of pain.”

Petracca being taken to the hospital.

After the match, Goodwin defended the club medical staff’s decision to send Petracca back on the ground.

“Like anything with a broken rib, or a cracked rib, you certainly get some pain relief and see how you can go on. It’s standard process when you’re working through these type of injuries,” he said post-match on Monday.

“It was pretty evident that he wasn’t going to be able to play on, so we just pulled it straight away at halftime.”

One of the most recent AFL players to suffer a lacerated spleen, Collingwood’s Mason Cox, spent six weeks on the sidelines that could be a similar time frame confronting Petracca, who is arguably Melbourne’s second most important player behind captain Max Gawn.

Melbourne fell to 10th after the loss to the Magpies and has the bye this weekend before a clash with North Melbourne on June 22 and a crucial clash against Brisbane at the Gabba.