DYNAMIC small forward Cody Weightman has broken his collarbone on a "night of carnage" for the Western Bulldogs, coach Luke Beveridge said.
Weightman tried to lay a big bump on Port Adelaide ruckman Sam Hayes early in the last quarter of Friday night's 17-point loss and came off with the worst possible result.
He was not the only Bulldog to leave Adelaide Oval early, with speedster Laitham Vandermeer suffering a "high grade" hamstring injury and defender Tim O'Brien a calf injury.
Both men left the ground before three-quarter time.
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Beveridge was philosophical about the setbacks, however he said the short turnaround from Sunday's win over Essendon might have played a role in two of the injuries.
"It was a disappointing night for us and a night of carnage for us too when you lose three players in the fashion we did," he said.
"The five-day break might have got us a little bit with some of that unfortunately.
"It was high-end running the week before against Essendon and one or two of the guys in Tim O'Brien and Laitham, who are quite prone, went down, so that destabilised us a little bit."
Beveridge said the severity of each injury would be confirmed in the coming days, but he was making no excuses for his team, which is now languishing with a 3-5 win-loss record.
He did offer some hope ahead of next Friday night's match against Collingwood at Marvel Stadium though, saying three big names were in the frame to return, led by skipper Marcus Bontempelli.
"We think he'll be ok. He's just had a series of things hampering him over a period of time that just came to a head this week," he said.
"The week off will do him the world of good, and hopefully he'll be healthy come Friday night, but we'll see how we go next week.
"Maybe Tim English and Alex Keath might be available.
"Clubs and teams go through it. We're getting our lot at the moment unfortunately. We've just got to ride it out and persevere."
Port Adelaide had one injury concern of its own with defender Riley Bonner leaving the field in the third quarter with a rolled ankle.
Coach Ken Hinkley said he hoped it was a "one-week, two-week" injury.
Hinkley is feeling much better about his team now after winning a third straight match following a 0-5 start to the season.
Port's coach was delighted with the form of tall forwards Jeremy Finlayson (three goals), Todd Marshall (two) and Mitch Georgiades, who were a big reason for its 26 scoring shots from 44 entries.
With focal point Charlie Dixon playing his first game in the SANFL on Saturday following pre-season ankle surgery, Hinkley said there could be some selection headaches around the corner.
"I'd rather have that problem than not have that problem," he said.
"We'll see how Charlie goes tomorrow, and let's not get too carried away. He's coming back from a long time off.
"We'll make sure he gets through the game as well as he can and then make some decisions."
Marshall was particularly impactful, hauling in eight marks – four of them contested – on his way to 14 disposals that included two goals and two assists.
"No one could question Todd Marshall's growth, it's been outstanding," Hinkley said.
"When he's been needed to stand up, he's shown the faith we've put in him over the journey is more than justified.
"He dominated the game for a patch, which was really important.
"That's where you see growth in players, when they can stand up at the time when the game's on the line.
"There's nothing better when you have a big forward who can do that for you."
