Queenscliff’s quest to end a 13-year premiership drought has suffered a major blow, with scans confirming a knee injury suffered by Marshall Rippon during Saturday’s loss to Torquay is a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Rippon, who joined the Coutas along with brother Nick at the start of the season, was forced from the ground during the second quarter after being tackled and having his knee buckle beneath him.
“It’s a tough one for me to swallow, but for the team also,” coach Heath Jamieson said.
“He’s only been with us a short time, but he’s a lovable character around the group.
“He came to Queenscliff this year to finish off his career, and, unfortunately, that looks like it may be cut short, which is devastating for us, devastating for Marshall. I know he’s loved being part of the group.
“His young fella, Harry, comes to most games and has really enjoyed watching.
“There’s a wave of probably emotion at the moment, which isn’t great.
“We also know that footy’s a game that probably doesn’t always give you the fairy tale, unfortunately, so we’ll lick our wounds at the moment, and just wrap our arms around Marshy and his family.”
Jamieson says Rippon, who has previously played with East Point in Ballarat, Uni Blues in the VAFA, and most recently North Central club Birchip-Watchem, will leave a gap in the Queenscliff lineup in the run to finals.
“He just brings a level of calmness, and he’s good for the group; he brings a lot of the energy to the group,” Jamieson said.
“I knew what I was getting when we got Marshall to the club. That’s what we wanted.
“We understand that he was older, but what he was bringing to the group was exactly what we wanted, so it’s going to leave a bit of a hole.
“But we know that we can’t sit around licking our wounds too long; we have to move forward.
“We’re still in a pretty good position. We’ve got some good players that can come in and play the role, so we’ll be fine.”
When Queenscliff returns following this week’s league-wide bye, Jamieson says he will weigh up whether to bring in recruit Charlie Brauer and returning junior Max Annandale for its clash with Barwon Heads.
Brauer, who was the youngest member of the Seagulls’ drought-breaking 2019 premiership, has made six appearances in the Coutas’ reserves, having not played since 2023.
Annandale, a former Geelong Falcon who had a short stint with WAFL club East Perth, spent time with Leopold before heading overseas last year.
“Charlie’s been with us now for probably 10 weeks,’ Jamieson said.
“He started in the thirds, and is now building some really good form in the reserves and just looks like a class player.
He’s been able to get some training under his belt, so I think his name will probably pop up for selection,
“Max has trained with us for the last month after returning from overseas.
“We’ve tried to get him back to the footy club for a long time, so when he came back from overseas, and agreed that he would come back, you know, it’s got us all pretty excited.”
X: @krockfootball
