AFLW news: Scans reveal worst for Western Bulldogs star Isabel Huntington

Huntington suffered the injury during the second quarter of Saturday’s Round 1 loss to Melbourne and scans also confirmed that her lateral meniscus is damaged too.

“We are absolutely devastated for Izzy — she is a much-loved figure at the Kennel, and everyone is well aware of her injury battles, so we’re just heartbroken for her,” Dogs general manager of Women’s Football Debbie Lee said.

This is the third ACL rupture for the 22-year-old. Huntington’s career has been plagued by knee issues so far, having played just 20 matches for the Dogs to date.

When fit and firing, Huntington is one of the most promising talents in the competition. She finished third in the Bulldogs’ best and fairest count last year and was named the NAB AFLW Rising Star in 2020 while also receiving an All Australian selection.

“Izzy is a true professional though, and having been through this twice before she will know what’s required of her,” Lee said.

“As a Club, we’ll continue to support her and the family in any way we can.”

Huntington will see a surgeon later this week to look at treatment options moving forward.

Huntington’s news comes as fellow AFLW players Brianna Davey (Collingwood) and Kate Lutkins (Brisbane) also suffered suspected ACL injuries.

Scan results were yet to be received for Davey and Lutkins on Monday afternoon.

Injured Pies great hoping ‘feeling’ means positive outcome

Bri Davey’s season hangs in the balance after suffering what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the dying moments of Collingwood’s 19-point win over Carlton.

Last season’s joint AFLW best and fairest winner, Davey, went down clutching her right knee as she tried to change direction when chasing Carlton debutant Paige Trudgeon.

Collingwood coach Steve Symonds said Davey will have scans on Monday to confirm the extent of the injury.

“There are mixed emotions for everyone at the moment, but she’s getting it assessed at the moment and will have some scans tomorrow to confirm where things sit,” Symonds said.

Symonds said the injury had soured the Pies’ resounding win over their arch-enemy and all of his players were feeling the blow.

“It’s a mixed mood in the changerooms at the moment,” he said. “We’ve come here and had a win and started the season off on a positive note.

“But we’ve got a close connection within our playing group in particular. The mood was really sombre in there for a start.

“We’ve got a theme of family inside our club and straight away it’s like a family member has gone down, so it’s a little bit sombre at the moment. They’re all getting around Bri at the moment.”

Davey, just four days out from her 27th birthday, suffered an ACL injury in 2018 when she was playing for the Blues.

Symonds said the ball magnet believes this injury feels different to that injury four years ago.

“Bri doesn’t know really, she’s done one before, so obviously she knows what that feels like and said this one felt a little bit different so fingers crossed it is,” he said.

The Collingwood coach revealed one of the focuses of his team over the off-season was to build greater midfield depth after his star trio of Davey, Jaimee Lambert and Britt Bonnici carried the Pies last season.

He earmarked young midfielders Tarni Brown and Mikala Cann, and utility Ebony O’Dea as replacements for Davey.

“We have a couple of girls who can come in,” he said. “Tarni Brown has taken some really strong strides and we played her in the midfield and up forward today.

“Mikala Cann is another one who has had a super pre-season and she’s growing as a midfielder as well.

“Ebony O’Dea was released from the midfield group today to play back, and Ebs is more than capable of coming into the midfield.”

Carlton coach Daniel Harford said the injury to Davey was “the worst possible outcome for the competition”.

“There was Izzy (Huntington) last night which looked pretty ordinary, and then Bri today late,” Harford said.

“Two of the big guns in the competition have been hit early and we don’t want to see it.”

Originally published as AFLW news: Scans reveal worst for Western Bulldogs star Isabel Huntington