Melbourne star knocked out cold by North ruckman in scary scenes

An AFL star is facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after a “reckless” act left a Melbourne midfielder out cold on Sunday.

Melbourne’s win over North Melbourne on Sunday was soured in the final quarter when Tom Sparrow was knocked out cold.

The 25-year-old midfielder was left face down on the turf after being hit high by North ruckman Tristan Xerri.

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After Xerri battled with Max Gawn at a boundary throw in, Sparrow attempted to grab the ball out of the air as Xerri lurched forward and looked to knock the ball free with his left arm.

Unfortunately for the All-Australian contender his arm missed its mark and clattered into the head of Sparrow which instantly turned his lights off as he crashed to the turf.

“He was out before he hit the ground … luckily we very rarely see this in the modern game,” Fox Footy commentator Corbin Middlemas said.

“It’s so rare you see a player concussed in that kind of fashion too, where he was out immediately.”

Watch the moment Sparrow is knocked out cold in the video player above

Sparrow was down and out for a long time after the hit from Xerri. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Three-time premiership player Cameron Mooney added: “It was just a reaction to true and hit the ball, and he’s completely missed it.

“That’s reckless … (he’ll) get some time for that. I don’t think it was anything untoward for it, but he’s got it wrong.

“If the ball’s there, your natural reaction is to flick an arm or hand at it. I think that’d what he’s tried to do, but he’s just missed it and got him high.”

Several Demons players remonstrated with Xerri as the game was brought to a standstill as medical staff rushed to Sparrow’s side.

After a lengthy delay the premiership star was loaded onto a stretcher and taken from the ground.

Xerri tried to make his way over to Sparrow as he was being carried off, but was pushed away by Melbourne players, underscoring their fury with the North ruckman.

Sparrow was stretchered from the ground as the Dees secured the win. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

And for the remainder of the match, whenever Xerri was near the ball, Sparrow’s teammates went as hard as they could at him physically.

As for the game, it was pretty tight in the first three quarters, with the margin rarely exceeding two goals either way, and when the Cam Zurhaar show kicked into gear, the Kangaroos had some serious momentum late in the third term.

The gun small forward exploded to single-handedly shift the tide in North’s favour with 3.2 from seven touches and three marks for the quarter to get his side back within three points.

However, Melbourne had the answers for most of the day whenever they were challenged, and they delivered North a mortal blow with seven of the next eight goals to lead by 40 points and end the contest.

- with Ronny Lerner, Newswire

Originally published as Melbourne star knocked out cold by North ruckman in scary scenes