Gold Coast Suns captain Gary Ablett Junior might see his season end early for the second year in a row after he was subbed out in the first quarter against Adelaide today.
Ablett took a knock to his knee in a contest and when he came to ground looked to be in serious pain, clutching his knee and limping.
He was helped off the ground by trainers and still looked to be in considerable discomfort by the time he made it to the interchange bench.
He didn’t return to the field, subbed out in the first term.
The Suns announced during the match that they suspected Ablett has injured the meniscus of his left knee, with scans on Monday to reveal the full extent of the injury.
The initial prognosis for Ablett’s injury is that he could miss 3-4 weeks, though this may shorten or lengthen depending on what the scans reveal.
With just six weeks left in the home and away season, and a finals appearance virtually impossible for the Suns, that leaves a very real possibility that Ablett has played his last game for 2015.
It caps off a nightmare 2015 season for Ablett that has been heavily affected by injury.
The shoulder injury that ended his 2014 season carried through to this year, leaving him in poor form in the first fortnight which led to an extended period of rest and recovery.
Returning in Round 14 against North Melbourne he showed that he still has what it takes, collecting 31 disposals and kicking 3 goals to lead the Suns to a massive upset win.
And last week against Greater Western Sydney, he had 30 disposals, 3 goals and a career-high 17 tackles.
There’s no doubting Ablett’s form off these numbers, but injury looks like it might make his 2015 a wasted season. We won’t know for sure until Monday.
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