Essendon defender Patrick Ambrose ruled out for two months due to PCL injury

Aaron Francis is set for a lead role in Essendon’s Round 1 defence after the club’s pre-season injury woes were compounded when Patrick Ambrose was ruled out for two months.

Essendon will be without Patrick Ambrose for the first chunk of the season after scans confirmed the defender injured his posterior cruciate ligament in a scratch match against Melbourne on Friday.

Ambrose, 28, has been booked in to see a specialist to determine the time frame of his return although the injury usually requires 8-10 weeks on the sidelines.

The brilliant one-on-one backman is likely to avoid surgery but put a brace on his right knee.

Ambrose, 28, landed awkwardly in a marking contest as the Bombers smashed a VFL-heavy Melbourne team 16.10 (106) to 4.8 (32) in an unofficial practice match at Casey Fields.

The clever defender attempted an athletic spoil by leaping over an opponent only for his knee to slide into the turf during the 74-point win.

Compounding Essendon’s long injury list is the fact that depth players Mitch Brown (Melbourne) and Michael Hartley (Hawthorn) departed at the end of last season.

Brown booted two first-quarter goals for the Demons on Saturday as news of Ambrose’s setback broke.

Patrick Ambrose has been ruled out for 8-10 weeks. Picture: Michael Klein.

The blow means that Aaron Francis (27 games) will take on more responsibility in the back half this pre-season with Michael Hurley (shoulder) and Conor McKenna (homesickness) also unavailable.

The Bombers’ pre-season campaign will officially kick off when they head west to take on West Coast in Lathlain on Thursday.

Coach-in-waiting Ben Rutten took the reins against the Demons at Casey Fields on Friday, delivering both the quarter-time and three-quarter-time addresses. Rutten is due to succeed John Worsfold in 2021.

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There were plenty of positives for outgoing coach John Worsfold as Jayden Laverde booted three goals as a marking target and midfield weapons Andy McGrath and Zach Merrett ran riot.

But it wasn’t Worsfold in charge, with Ben Rutten – who will take the reins in 2020 – delivering both the quarter-time and three quarter-time addresses.

Orazio Fantasia played with his usual spark after an off-season spent in the headlines as he considered a trade.

Brisbane Lions recruit Tom Cutler showed off his long kicking with two goals from the wing and is on track to break into the Round 1 team when the Bombers host Fremantle at Marvel Stadium.

David Zaharakis played the first half after recent knee surgery and also kicked two goals.

The Demons played only a handful of AFL-listed players, including out-of-favour dasher Jayden Hunt, with their best squad set to take on Adelaide in the Marsh Series at Casey Fields on Saturday night.

The Bombers’ top draft pick Harrison Jones leaps for the ball.

Andrew McGrath breaks away from the pack.

Meanwhile, Bulldogs star Aaron Naughton is in serious doubt for the Round 1 blockbuster against Collingwood after pulling out of Friday night’s pre-season match.

Naughton, 20, has taken the AFL by storm in his first two seasons in which he has excelled as a key defender in 2018 and full-forward in 2019.

But Naughton has now had both his knees operated on since his last game.

The one-grab marking target dodged a bullet when he appeared to damage his anterior cruciate ligament in last year’s elimination final.

Scans confirmed he only damaged the lateral ligament in his left knee and while surgery had him behind the Eight ball this season, he was on track for Round 1.

But Naughton reported soreness in his right knee after training on Thursday and the club decided to send him for arthroscopic surgery to assess a cartilage concern.

Bulldogs young gun Aaron Naughton is in doubt for Round 1. Picture: Michael Klein

Bulldog coaches expected Naughton to play against North Melbourne in the Marsh Series and were shocked to learn their goalkicking weapon had to go under the knife.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said the club would not be risking Naughton if he was not fully fit by Round 1 after the “strange” and unexpected injury which came to light on Thursday night.

“He was just at home and developed a little bit of clicking in his knee,” Beveridge said.

“He’s just got a little bit of cartilage damage, a couple of loose bodies there that will get cleaned up tomorrow (Saturday). We hope that he won’t be out too long.

“I’m not worried (about Round 1). We don’t want to press it. If he’s not available, we’ve got to have a long-term outlook for all our players but in particular Naughts. If he’s not, we won’t push him to be ready for Round 1. If he has the arthroscope and he comes up cherry ripe in two weeks then we’ll probably pick him. But if there’s any doubt or he’s got a bit of swelling and it’s going to take a couple of weeks then we’ll be conservative with him.”

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While the Dogs have been relatively healthy this summer, suddenly they have Naughton, Easton Wood (hamstring), Tim English (concussion), Josh Bruce (back), Lin Jong (hamstring), Taylor Duryea (groin) Tom Liberatore (knee) and Matthew Suckling (sore) all unavailable.

Naughton ranked No. 8 in the AFL for forward 50m marks last year.

The Naughton blow means the Dogs won’t get a look at their new pairing of him and Bruce against an opposition team before the real season.

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Originally published as Essendon defender Patrick Ambrose ruled out for two months due to PCL injury