If East Geelong is to go one better than last year’s grand final appearance and snap a 17-year premiership drought, they’ll likely have to do it without gun forward Zac Smith.
Smith suffered a ruptured AC joint following a contest at ground level during the second quarter of Saturday’s 101-point win over Corio at Richmond Crescent.
A meeting with a surgeon later this week to determine whether he will play again in 2026.
“There’s also some possible damage to the collarbone, but at this stage, we’re not sure what the extent of that is,” Eagles coach Ned Aulsebrook said.
“Zac will see the surgeon on Friday to get a clearer picture of the way forward from here.
“With shoulders, if you can get away with not having surgery, it can cut back the rehab time, and that may be an option.
“I feel like that if there’s surgery needed on this, that’ll be Zach (done) for the year.
“With my personal history, I’m pretty confident he wouldn’t get back by the end of this year.”
Smith was leading the race for the Wayne Tyquin Medal as GDFNL leading goalkicker heading into the clash with the Devils, with 47 majors for the season.
A further two goals before his injury had him one away from bringing up the half-century for the third time since joining East from GFNL club St Albans in 2022.
“It’s such a shame, because he was in some really good form,” Aulsebrook said.
“We were building a forward line around him, and the way he was bringing other guys into the game was really promising for our football.
“He is a focal point, and we do go through him a lot. The way he leads up to the footy, he sort of demands you to kick it to him.
“I suppose the silver lining might be that we get some other guys through there as a bit of a different look for us.
“But, you can’t replace someone who’s kicked 49 goals to this point in the year,
“We’re not going to expect anyone to come in and do that. We’re going to need guys to pick up 10 or 15 per cent across the board.”
East got a glimpse of life without Smith, with Caleb Ezard kicking a career-high eight goals.
“He’s a star,” Aulsebrook said.
“To be honest, I don’t want him to play at East next year.
“He’s too good. He should be playing GFL. He’s only 23, and he’s a deadset gun.”
As well as the four points, East got a handy percentage boost from its 23.14 (152) to 7.9 (51) victory.
The Eagles sit fourth on the ladder, one win behind second-placed Belmont Lions and third-placed Werribee Centrals, ahead of a clash next Sunday with Geelong West at Scaada Stadium.
Corio, which was best served by Brock Cervenka and captain Jack Hall, returns home for a meeting with Inverleigh.
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