West Coast’s worst fears have been confirmed, with defender Eric Mackenzie set to miss the entire AFL season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Mackenzie suffered the injury after landing awkwardly in Friday’s 31-point NAB Challenge win over Carlton.
Scans on Saturday confirmed the tear.
The 26-year-old will wait for the swelling to subside before undergoing surgery.
Unless Mackenzie opts to have ligament augmentation and reconstruction system (LARS) surgery, he will miss the rest of the year.
His absence will be a huge blow to the Eagles, especially following the retirement last year of fellow key defender Darren Glass.
The Eagles were planning to use Jeremy McGovern up forward during the early rounds this year to cover for the absence of Jack Darling (foot).
But with Mackenzie injured, McGovern might be forced into a key defensive post.
Meanwhile, Eagles coach Adam Simpson will monitor Nic Naitanui (back) and Scott Selwood (ankle) to decide whether they’ll be fit to face Port Adelaide on March 8.
“We’re hoping (Naitanui will play), but it’ll be touch and go,” Simpson said.
“The pleasing thing is that he’s had a really good look during the pre-season.”
Carlton entered Friday’s match minus key players Marc Murphy, Chris Judd, Andrew Walker, Matthew Kreuzer, Bryce Gibbs, Robert Warnock, Lachie Henderson, Andrew Carrazzo, Dale Thomas and Michael Jamison.
The Blues still have NAB Challenge matches against Collingwood and Geelong to come, and director of coaching Rob Wiley is not hiding from the fact his team have plenty of work to do.
“It’s about getting players fit enough for round one. Our policy was always that some would play three games and some would play two,” Wiley said.
“You will definitely see a different side in two weeks, but the same principle occurs that as a team, we just have to play better as a team.
“The players are up for that challenge. This was a young team but we’ll go away better for it.”
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