KUWARNA star Izak Rankine is facing a stint on the sidelines after suffering a suspected hamstring strain in the dying seconds of the Crows' four-point loss to Collingwood on Saturday.
The 24-year-old suffered the injury with 16 seconds left on the clock in the contentious moment where he was penalised for running too far after streaming down the wing and taking a bounce before kicking the ball inside 50.
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Rankine produced another brilliant display to almost lead Kuwarna to victory against the reigning premiers, finishing with a career-high 30 disposals, 16 contested possessions, eight inside 50s, seven clearances – all in the second half – and 692m gained, before limping off after the final siren for assessment.
The South Australian will undergo a scan on Sunday but the Crows are bracing for Rankine to miss a few weeks after he suffered a similar injury against Melbourne in round 19 last year, which sidelined him for three games.
"We are fingers crossed but we think it might be a small hamstring strain," Crows coach Matthew Nicks told reporters on Saturday night.
"I think 12 months ago v Melbourne he might have done the same thing at the same spot on the ground. We are hoping it's not to that extent."
Nicks wouldn’t be drawn to comment on the questionable umpiring decision that cost the Crows an opportunity to reset at a stoppage inside 50 in the dying seconds.
"He is extremely fast," Nicks said.
"I won’t be making any comment around that (final moment). I thought he had a big impact."
Kuwarna has now lost its past four games against Collingwood by less than a goal – and five of the past six – making it nine losses in succession at the hands of the Magpies.
Nicks said the Crows controlled a large chunk of the game and deserved to win after recording nine more inside 50 entries, but were punished for conceding six consecutive goals from late in the first quarter to halfway through the second quarter.
"It is pretty hard to give up six goals against anyone, let alone Collingwood on the MCG," he said.
"The first quarter they dominated us, they just controlled the game. But we were able to adjust and we did that really well, and from that point on, we had the game on our terms.
"Sometimes you finish these games off and think, 'We would have stolen that if we won' but that wasn't the case today. I felt like we played great footy for three quarters of the game and weren't able to get it done."
Collingwood's forward line has been decimated by injuries across the past few weeks with Brody Mihocek, Jamie Elliott and Beau McCreery all missing on Saturday – plus Jeremy Howe who started forward on Mother's Day and Dan McStay – and they copped more on Saturday.
Veteran utility Will Hoskin-Elliott played forward before injuring his hamstring in the second quarter to be subbed out at half-time, before Reef McInnes was placed in concussion protocols after copping a knee to the head, which took a few minutes before being identified on the bench.
"Reef has concussion so he is obviously going to be out for a period of time," Collingwood coach Craig McRae said in his press conference.
"Will has a low-grade hamstring, which we will know more tomorrow. We don't know how bad that is, but it is reported as a low-grade hamstring."
The Magpies could regain McCreery and Mihocek for Friday night's clash against Fremantle in Western Australia, but Elliott is facing more time on the sidelines with a vascular issue.
After starting its premiership defence 0-3, Collingwood has risen to third and could end Sir Doug Nicholls Round in the top-four after seven games without a loss.
