GEELONG Falcons vice-captain Charlie Brauer will miss the rest of the season after suffering a severe knee injury in Sunday’s loss to the Murray Bushrangers.
Scans on Monday have confirmed the top-age Barwon Heads product, who is also listed with Geelong’s VFL program, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during the first quarter of the clash at Bendigo’s QE Oval.
“He was in a tackle, and his leg buckled,” coach Paul Corrigan said.
“He came off, and sometimes, from what I’ve heard with ACL’s, they can still feel stable and right to run around.
“They (medical staff) tested him and thought maybe it’s not an ACL with what he was producing on the boundary line.
“But, he went back on, and he went to change direction, and it just buckled under him, and he knew something was going on.”
Brauer, the youngest member of Barwon Heads’ drought-breaking Bellarine League premiership in 2019, is seen as an important figure in the Falcons program.
“He’ll be shattered,” Corrigan said. “He’s one of our really strong leaders among this group.
“He’d had a really good pre-season, with the stuff he’d done at the VFL, and he hadn’t missed a beat with us.
“I was really looking forward to working with him as a player this year and what he could bring from a leadership point-of-view as well.
“Hopefully, he still wants to be involved around here.”
The injury will also cost Brauer to press his AFL claims through the under-19 National Championships.
Corrigan says Brauer would have been a chance to represent Vic Country if his form warranted selection.
“That’s probably another hard thing for him as well,” Corrigan said.
“But it was more so getting him back playing footy again with the Falcons.
“He’s well-renowned and respected among the group, being vice-captain and being voted in.
“We’ll miss a lot of his leadership on the field.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
