West Coast small forward Noah Long reflects on serious knee injury, recovery, Eagles’ mosquito fleet

While Noah Long dodged a feared ACL rupture, a complex knee injury wiped out his 2024. Now, he tells Eliza Reilly how the time on the sidelines changed him, and how he’s back better than ever.

They’re the three letters that every AFL footballer fears.

And when Noah Long came to the bench after his knee was caught awkwardly in a tackle against Essendon, club doctors were initially unable to rule out an ACL rupture.

More than 10 months later, the 20-year-old is on the cusp of playing his first AFL game since May last year. But he’ll never forget the way he felt for 48 hours when a dreaded ACL tear was still in play.

“For me, it wasn’t ruled out,” Long said. “Whenever you do an injury, you get a feeling that it might be pretty bad (but) you’re not sure to what extent. You prepare yourself for the worst because you don’t want to get your hopes up.

“That 1-2 day wait was quite slow. We got a lot of opinions and watched the footage and you can start to get a sense of whether it is or isn’t (an) ACL.

Noah Long back in action against North Melbourne in March. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images.

“We were hopeful that it wasn’t. (But) we just had to wait until the scans came through.

“It was a relief, even though a PCL is still a nine-month injury. My goal was to get back and play as much footy as I can this year. That doesn’t change, whatever level I play at.

“Everyone wants to play round 1, but missing most of last year makes you grateful to be back playing footy again.”

Not only was Long’s injury serious, but it was uncommon in 179cm small-forwards.

He required surgery on both his PCL and MCL and spent five weeks on crutches.

“It was quite a complex surgery and not one that’s super common in the AFL,” he said.

“I don’t think the mechanisms in footy cause it to happen as much unless you’re a ruck or in a marking contest. For it to happen in a tackle was unusual.

“The initial period was tough. The pain from such a big injury lasted two to three weeks.

“It’s a credit to the physio staff because right now, my body is in a good spot. Compared to last year, I think I’m stronger and more durable in the areas you need to play good footy.”

Drafted with pick No. 58 in 2022, Long was viewed as a top-20 pick by West Coast’s recruiting team. The Echuca product inherited former captain Luke Shuey’s No. 13 guernsey after playing 19 games in his debut season.

Luke Shuey shares a moment with Noah Long in 2023. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

In 2025, Long is set to be a key cog in West Coast’s emerging mosquito fleet, new coach Andrew McQualter taking a leaf from Richmond’s triple-premiership forward line.

Tyler Brockman, Liam Ryan, Matt Owies, Jamie Cripps and Jack Petruccelle have all brought the pressure and pace so far this pre-season.

“The aim of every team is to win the ball back as quickly as you can and create turnovers,” Long said. “That has a bit to do with us as small forwards and our ability to provide pressure and lock the ball in our front half.

“We’ve had good availability for spots. There’s a lot of small forwards in the mix at the moment but we all bring a different aspect to the role.

“We complement each other well. We’re all focused on what we can do to help the team.”

Originally published as West Coast small forward Noah Long reflects on serious knee injury, recovery, Eagles’ mosquito fleet