Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca has come from the field in a world of pain after a nasty incident in the first quarter of the King’s Birthday clash against Collingwood.
In the final play of the opening term, Petracca was crunched by Magpies captain Darcy Moore in a marking contest.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Petracca injured in brutal contest.
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Petracca was in all sorts of pain with an apparent rib injury as he came from the field during the quarter-time break.
“He was in pain immediately, went to ground. Eventually got up and tried to make his way to the quarter-time huddle, but was in so much discomfort, had to break away from the quarter-time huddle and head down inside the rooms,” Channel 7 commentator Cameron Ling said from the boundary.
“A lot of pain there. You can see. Not nice at all. Unfortunately, you have to suspect something like broken ribs when you see that type of vision.”
Petracca was Melbourne’s best player in the first term with eight possessions and four marks.
But remarkably, the superstar was able to return to the field early in the second term despite the worrying incident.
The Channel 7 commentators couldn’t believe he continued playing.
“This is extraordinary, he barely crawled off the ground at quarter-time,” Tim Watson said.
“He did a couple of run-throughs and had the shake of the head. I could only take that as ‘no, there’s no pain’. I don’t know, that would have to be so sore,” Ling added.
Petracca was clearly struggling with the commentators wondering how long he will last.
“As soon as he kicked that he bent over in a lot of pain. He’s being so brave right now, but he’s not comfortable out there at all. I don’t know how much longer he can last,” Ling said.
Watson added: “Watching Petracca behind the play then. He is moving ever so slowly. He’s hunched over most of the time. He’s in a lot of pain.”
Despite clearly struggling and moving at half-pace, Petracca was still able to find the ball, although he avoided contact by quickly dishing off a handball whenever he got it.
He collected another five possessions in the second quarter, all of which were handballs, but looked a shell of his normal self.
“Petracca can’t compete physically at all, can he? He needs all his ball to be clean, otherwise it’s just too painful,” Brian Taylor said.
But the pain proved too much for Petracca and he was eventually subbed out just after the half-time break.
