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The Western Bulldogs’ worst fears have been realised with scans revealing an ACL injury to forward Josh Bruce in a devastating blow for their premiership tilt.
Star Western Bulldogs forward Josh Bruce could be out until the 2023 AFL season in a devastating blow for the premiership fancies.
Scans have revealed the 29-year-old suffered an ACL injury to his left knee in the dying seconds of Sunday’s upset loss to Essendon.
Bruce will undergo a knee reconstruction and the Bulldogs will have to replace a player who has kicked 48 goals in his second season at the club.
His recovery will take up to 12 months, potentially ruling him out for all of next season as well as the rest of this year.
“We’re devastated for him and will do everything we can to support him through this period,” Bulldogs head of medicine Chris Bell said.
“We will work through a plan with Josh for surgery over the next couple of days.”
Bruce struggled during 2020 in his first season with the Bulldogs after moving from St Kilda but had returned to his best this year.
He sits equal second in the Coleman Medal standings, behind Carlton star Harry McKay (58 goals).
Bruce has formed a potent attacking partnership with Aaron Naughton, while No.1 pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has added extra potency since making his AFL debut in round 17 against Sydney.
Bruce tagged himself into “Heartbreak Hotel” in an Instagram post, saying he would target a return next year.
“Certainly not how I envisaged 2021 ending for me, but that’s just footy at times,” Bruce wrote.
After just five games, Ugle-Hagan will now have to take on more responsibility in a Bulldogs side challenging for a premiership.
Josh Schache has played well in defence since earning a recall in round 19 but could be switched forward again in place of Bruce.
“We’ll have to dig deep, we might have to do a bit of a different way, as we have in the past and that affects your decisions and probably your ball use going inside 50 a little bit more,” Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said after the loss to the Bombers.
“But it’s the challenge of this caper, from the coaching point of view, is finding a way when the template changes.”
© AAP
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