Western Bulldogs star Sam Darcy escapes ACL tear – but will still be sidelined long term

As Sam Darcy went for scans on Monday, the Bulldogs were fearing the worst. But, after the results came back, everyone involved is breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Sam Darcy’s season is still alive after he dodged a torn ACL but the star Bulldogs forward is still facing a race against time to return for the 2025 finals series.

Darcy is still likely to be out for four or five months as he recovers from knee surgery to repair a fracture to the bone at the front of the knee.

It means that in a best-case scenario Darcy might be available only a week or two before the finish of the home-and-away season.

The Dogs had braced for the worst-case scenario after tests in the rooms when his knee buckled on him in a hyperextension against St Kilda.

In harrowing scenes, his family including father Luke had been consoled in the Western Bulldogs rooms as they were given the news by football boss Sam Power.

While they are working through the details of his injury he has definitely avoided ACL damage.

The incident that left Sam Darcy with a suspected ACL tear

It is understood Darcy has suffered deep bone bruising and damage to the bones at the font of the knee.

It means he will effectively need a knee reconstruction to fix the depressed fracture of either the femur or tibia, after the bones smashed into each other when his knee hyperextended.

The surgery is needed to speed recovery and also give him the best chance to avoid further issues because the hyperextension means he is more chance for a recurrence later in his career.

Respected sports medico Peter Larkins told the Herald Sun he would still be battling to get back for the finals series.

“The hyperextension is very significant. The ACL didn’t get torn which is bizarre. But it’s a very significant hyperextension injury which tears the tissues at the back and means bone bruising at the front of the knee with a crack in the bone. It’s the knee bone itself.

“Grant Birchall missed months with what was said to be a bruised knee but it was actually a fracture through the bone.

“I would think it’s between four to five months on the sidelines. Three months would be a miraculous return. He will need surgery to stabilise the knee. It’s like a knee reconstruction but not involving the ACL. He has to have it repaired or his knee will be prone to problems in the future.

“The knee jarring is two bits of bone smashing together and it’s like a dint in a table tennis table. That is what the bone does and it needs to be fixed.”

Sam Darcy soars in a marking contest. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Only to land awkwardly and hurt his knee. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Dogs head of sports medicine Chris Bell said on Monday: “Scans have cleared the ACL of damage but confirmed that he has suffered a significant knee injury with an impaction fracture at the front of his knee and associated ligament damage at the back of his knee.

The club said a definitive return time would be set in coming weeks.

It is a sensational result for the Dogs given most of the tests that are conducted by doctors in the rooms without scanning machines are still around 80 per cent conclusive.

The club’s football boss Matt Egan and coach Luke Beveridge had suggested the club feared the worst.

Instead, there is hope that the Dogs can bank enough wins to put them in finals consideration before he could potentially return to the side late in the year.

Beveridge threw swingman Rory Lobb forward in the fourth quarter and also played Buku Khamis in attack for the game.

He also could play James O’Donnell forward after starting him in defence, with young second-year tall Jordan Croft also an option at some stage this season.

Beveridge said after the club’s crushing victory over St Kilda he feared a season-ending injury for Darcy, who is shaping as footy’s most dominant player.

But the club has given up hope Jamarra Ugle Hagan will play a part in this season as it considers whether he is sidelined indefinitely and taken out of the club’s training program

“That is not going to happen in the immediate term so it is probably not worth discussing at the moment. As far as any replacements go, we really can’t consider Marra,” Beveridge said.

Sunday night: Dogs feared the worst

– Josh Barnes

Darcy hyperextended his left leg in the first quarter of a 71-point thumping over St Kilda and immediately clutched at his knee before being subbed off.

The Bulldogs on Sunday were anticipating ACL damage and coach Luke Beveridge said post-match: “It’s fair to say we are a bit concerned”.

But the club breathed a collective sigh of relief when the scans came back on Monday.

Darcy limped around the Dogs rooms after the win with compression bandages covering his long leg from his hamstring to his shin.

The Darcy family, including father Luke, who twice ruptured his right ACL when playing for the Dogs, stood in the entrance way to the rooms trying to put on a brave face after being caught on camera in tears during the match.

The 21-year-old giant had vaulted into conversations as the best player in the league after a brilliant start to this season and serious injury would leave a hole in the Bulldogs’ forward line.

Despite kicking 43 goals in that role last year, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will not be called on anytime soon to fill the breach, as he remains unavailable for selection due to personal reasons.

Darcy with father Luke after the injury. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

“That is not going to happen in the immediate term so it is probably not worth discussing at the moment. As far as any replacements go, we really can’t consider Marra,” Beveridge said.

The Dogs will rebuild its forwardline around Aaron Naughton, who had to shrug off a slow start to the season to kick six goals in his last two games.

Naughton was off the mark to start the Saints win and still had a number of errors but Beveridge was impressed with his second half as the Dogs ran away with the game.

“Really happy with the way he responded after quarter-time,” the coach said.

“I think early in the game he wasn’t quite where we needed him to be, even with Sam there so it was a pretty important role he played for us tonight.”

The Dogs started defender Buku Khamis forward against St Kilda, swapping him with swingman James O’Donnell, but Khamis had little impact and went scoreless.

Rory Lobb spent the final quarter forward but Beveridge said it wasn’t in his plans to start the defender there against GWS in Canberra on Saturday night.

A replacement for Darcy’s minutes as Tim English’s ruck backup will also have to be found.

“It is not in a plan A for us to play Rory forward at the start of a game but it is an option and he will do anything for the team,” Beveridge said.

Originally published as Western Bulldogs star Sam Darcy escapes ACL tear – but will still be sidelined long term