COLLINGWOOD superstar Nick Daicos will be sidelined for the next six weeks in a massive blow for the Magpies and his Brownlow Medal chances.
The 20-year-old underwent scans on his knee following the 32-point loss to Hawthorn, after a collision with Hawks key defender James Blanck on Saturday.
Those scans have revealed a hairline fracture in the lateral tibial plateau of his right knee joint.
Daicos met with a surgeon on Sunday morning and doesn’t require surgery but will need time for the injury to heal before he is ready to resume in 2023.
The Brownlow Medal favourite will miss the final three games of the home and away season against Geelong, Brisbane and Essendon and the first week of the finals at a minimum.
With the pre-finals bye and the potential for the Magpies to progress to a preliminary final, Daicos might only miss four games in a best-case scenario.
The second-year sensation endured a nightmare game on Saturday with Hawthorn tagger Finn Maginness restricting him to just five disposals – 11 fewer than his previous lowest count – from 60 per cent game time, before Daicos exited the game in the last quarter after attempting to play on following the knock.
Daicos appeared on course to win the game’s most prestigious individual accolade, as well as the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award, the Copeland Trophy and other awards, after averaging 32.6 disposals across the first 20 rounds of the season.
Craig McRae will also need to navigate the final rounds of the home and away season without key defender Nathan Murphy.
The 23-year-old suffered a low-grade syndesmosis injury in the fourth quarter and was helped off the ground in the arms of trainers at the MCG.
Murphy has been ruled out of the next two games and might miss the final three games before being available for the first final.
"Both players underwent scans after our game last night which confirmed Nathan suffered a low-grade syndesmosis injury in his right ankle and is expected to miss the next two to three weeks, while Nick has a hairline fracture in the lateral tibial plateau of the right knee joint," Pies footy boss Graham Wright said.
"Nick has been seen by a specialist knee surgeon this morning and, while fortunately this does not require an operation, it will need time to heal before he returns to football. At this stage, the expected timeframe for Nick is six weeks.
"Both Nathan and Nick have played important roles this season, they are consummate professionals and will do all they can to progress though their rehab to make themselves available and we will support them through that recovery."
Collingwood withdrew key defender Billy Frampton from Sunday’s VFL fixture against Werribee to ensure the West Australian is available for next Friday night’s game against Geelong at the MCG.
