UPDATE: Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield has suffered a partially collapsed lung and cracked rib after being hurt in his side’s 38-point loss to Port Adelaide.
The Brownlow medallist was sent to hospital after Thursday night’s Adelaide Oval encounter.
Dangerfield was crunched in the back in a collision with Port’s Dan Houston in the second quarter.
Geelong, in a statement on Friday, said Dangerfield had scans in hospital which revealed the extent of his injuries.
He will return to Melbourne on Friday by car.
EARLIER: GEELONG’S 38-point loss to an in-form Port Adelaide has been made worse by a suspected rib injury to skipper Patrick Dangerfield, with reports he was taken to hospital post-game.
Dangerfield was crunched in the back in a collision with Port’s Dan Houston in the second quarter but managed to play out the game.
“He got a knock and then he seized up after that,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
“I could say it’s a back spasm or something like that but the honest answer is I don’t know.”
Geelong will need to bounce back quickly from the loss, hosting another top-four side in Melbourne at Kardinia Park next Thursday night.
Veteran Isaac Smith told K rock Football post-game they’ll be desperate to make amends for the second-half fadeout against the Power, with the home side kicking 11 goals to four after halftime.
Smith said the Cats just couldn’t get the ball forward after halftime.
“I feel like we made a few critical mistakes in that second quarter around center bounce,” he said.
“They were able to get some momentum going into halftime and we just couldn’t stop that in the third quarter which is disappointing.
“Then in the end you sort of get pulled apart because you’re trying to sort of throw a lot of things at them to win the game.”
Despite the Power booting seven straight goals to open the second half, Smith said the team was confident heading into 3QT, as the Cats were able to bounce back with two late majors.
“We felt like our forward line was pretty potent all night if we could get it in there.
“But towards the end of the game, they were just probably able to set up a bit of a wall and get a few numbers back there so it made it difficult to penetrate.
“We had full confidence but they’re a hot side at the moment and we just weren’t up to the task, which was disappointing.”
Geelong will need to bounce back quickly from the loss, hosting another top-four side in Melbourne at Kardinia Park next Thursday night.
By: Will Boddington
Twitter: @krockfootball
