'Just cruel': AFL world rocked by horror sight no one wants to see

The AFL world has been left devastated over horror scenes for a Crows youngster as Adelaide pulled off one of their great victories. 

It doesn't look good for Nick Murray. Photo: Fox Footy

The Adelaide Crows have pulled off an unlikely two-point win over Essendon  at Marvel Stadium, handing the Bombers a third loss in four matches to put a real dent in the side's finals hopes.

 

 

Josh Rachele kicked the match-winner with a minute left in the match, exorcising the demons of round 6 when he dropped two easy crucial marks in a three-point loss at Adelaide Oval.

But he got his revenge with 51 seconds remaining this time around as he collected the crumbs and quickly snapped the goal which delivered Adelaide a thrilling 17.13 (115) to 17.11 (113) win.

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The ghosts of 2023 are beginning to haunt Essendon with their finals hopes in serious peril late in the season again.

If the Bombers beat the 14th-placed Crows, as they were expected to do, they would’ve provisionally moved up to second on the ladder and probably would’ve needed only two more wins from their last five games to secure a top-eight spot.

But the upset result could see Brad Scott’s side drop to ninth this weekend, needing another three wins to make the finals.

It was a win the Crows can hang their future on, hanging on late despite having only two rotations left after injury carnage throughout the match.

Josh Rachele was the match winner for the Crows. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Jordan Dawson had a concussion test and Jordon Butts had an ankle injury, but an early knee injury to defender Nick Murray had fans terrified after he seemingly hurt the same knee he suffered an ACL injury on 12 months ago.

The 23-year-old needed a knee reconstruction after his round 19 injury last season and has only recently made it back on the field.

But early in his side's round 19 clash against Essendon, Murray left the field and went directly to the rooms after going straight to the doctors himself.

Just before quarter time, Murray was back on the boundary line and looking at footage with doctors.

Next time he was on camera was at the beginning of the second quarter when Murray was seen putting on a hoodie with plenty of concern about his welfare as news came through that he'd been subbed out for Brayden Cocks.

Channel 7's Abbey Holmes said: "He came from the ground pointing at the left knee and went straight down into the rooms with the doctor. He resurfaced just before the quarter-time break.

“He has spent significant time looking through some vision with the medical staff and during the quarter-time break he did a fitness test — changing direction, really testing out that knee. Unfortunately he is not starting this second term on the ground.”

“You could tell the way the doctors were looking at that, they looked ultra concerned,” Brian Taylor said.

It doesn't look good for Nick Murray. Photo: Fox Footy

However, Matthew Richardson hoped that the Crows were just being "ultra conservative".

"(The Crows) love this guy, they just got their balance back, they want him and Jordon Butts down back as their pillars. Disappointing for the young man,” he said.

On Fox Footy, the concern was equally palpable.

"This is sad, well hopefully not sad. But it's not great news at the moment with Nick Murray subbed out," Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

At halftime, Lyon said there had been "tears and emotional in the dugout".

Jon Ralph said: "Adelaide would be really concerned about that knee, it was the same left knee that saw him tear it 12 months ago in an ACL. Adelaide tells me they're not quite sure whether it's an ACL but until those scans clear it, they'll be extremely worried".

It's been a brutal 12 months for the youngster, who was playing in just his fifth match of the season, having had an AFL-high 15 spoils in the Crows' round 18 clash with St Kilda.

Hopefully it's not as bad as it seems. Photo: Fox Sports

Fans were devastated by the latest setback.

Former Crow and Swan turned radio personality Ryan Fitzgerald posted: "Don’t like the look on Nick Murray’s face. He’s such a good human and has worked his arse off to get back into the team. Hoping the knee’s ok."

Seven's Mitch Cleary tweeted: "Nick Murray subbed out with a left knee injury. It’s the same knee he suffered a ruptured ACL on in July last year."

Another fan commented: "As soon as they said Nick Murray had a knee concerned, I feared the worst. This is just cruel."

Another fan wrote: "Nick Murray acl has me sick."

Another questioned: "DID NICK MURRAY JUST DO HIS ACL?"

Another added: "Not Nick Murray".

Post-game, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said the club were all thinking "positive thoughts".

"He has to have a scan on that," Nicks said. "I don't want to say we're confident but we're going to stay really positive. As you can imagine he's quite emotional at the moment but we'll just keep thinking positive thoughts and hopefully that one comes out the right way."

Murray himself spoke about the issue on Channel 7, saying he just "didn't want to take any risk".

"If you compare it to last time, I've still got full extension of the knee, there's not much swelling, it's just more of a conservative approach," he said. "There's no risk."

The Crows and Bombers were playing out an entertaining end-to-end shootout.

After Essendon took a five point lead into the first break, the Crows booted eight straight goals and nine for the second quarter to take a 23-point lead to the main break.

But it didn't last long as the Bombers flipped the script, responding with seven straight of their own through the second and third quarters to retake the lead by 10 at the final break.

Essendon looked to have done enough to claim the victory, but the late surge saw the Crows snatch the lead through Rachele's goal, needing to rush two behinds to hang on for the victory.

Originally published as 'Just cruel': AFL world rocked by horror sight no one wants to see