Ocean Grove youngster Luke Devlin has been cleared of serious damage after being hospitalised following an incident in the Grubbers’ reserve grade clash with Portarlington.
An ambulance was called to Ray Menzies Oval during the third quarter after the under-18s graduate was left concussed following a tackle by an opponent.
“They called an ambulance pretty quickly once they realised that he’d been knocked out and (there was) a little bit of concern around his neck and head,” senior co-coach Dave Farrell said.
“All the footy communities are a whole lot better in that space and really aware these days that players’ health comes first – there’s never any consideration that the game would continue until he was properly looked after. So, that was a really good response.
“(There was) really good feedback that by the time he was in the ambulance, he was back with it and making a lot of sense,
“They took him into Geelong Hospital to get some scans, which came back clear overnight.”
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Farrell says Devlin’s parents and older brother Rhys, who was preparing to play in the senior match, witnessed the incident.
“Watching those guys look on was pretty horrific,” he said.
“But, we had Ben Hancock, one of our senior players, not playing on the day. He’s an ER doctor, so he was immediately on the scene.
“Our medical team is amazing. So, he was really well cared for.”
Farrell, who also praised the assistance of Portarlington’s medical staff, says that despite the outcome, he doesn’t believe there was any intent to hurt Devlin in the tackle.
However, he hopes AFL Barwon umpires boss Jock Hillgrove, who was at the game, will use the incident as an educational tool.
“There were that and probably some other incidents during the day that I’m sure Jock will walk away and be able to use to educate the umpires,” Farrell said.
“And we’ll certainly be using some of these incidents to educate our coaches, and might even reach out to Jock and his team just to help our guys understand these better and make sure we’re not putting ourselves in that position.”
With an ambulance taking more than 30 minutes to arrive at the venue, the match was abandoned with Ocean Grove leading Portarlington, 5.2 (32) to 3.1 (19).
With the game reaching half-time, the Grubbers will receive the four points.
It’s the second consecutive week the Demons reserves have been part of an abandoned match.
X: @krockfootball
