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Whateley

Tom Morris | Elijah Hollands, Sam Darcy ACL - AFL news update (20.04.26)

20 Apr 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What are the latest AFL headlines following Round 6?

0.031 - 18.478 Gerard Whateley

Let's have a little delve into what's happening across the footy landscape. Tom. Gerard, news literally just in. Hot off the press. Is that the scene? Hot off the press. Hawthorne won't appeal James Sisley and Dylan Moore's suspension, so they'll miss against the Gold Coast for those gut punches on the same player from Port Adelaide within about 15 minutes of each other.

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18.498 - 20.841 Gerard Whateley

So Greg Swan's come down hard on this.

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Chapter 2: Why won't Hawthorne appeal Sisley and Moore's suspensions?

20.821 - 39.589 Gerard Whateley

It's a pretty clear cut that if you deliver a gut punch off the ball or even on the ball, really, it's a week because it's medium impact. But their opponent, Gold Coast, they're appealing John Noble's one-game suspension for a high bump on Tom Edwards. So that will play out this week. Just to add to the tribunal...

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39.569 - 49.923 Gerard Whateley

I guess narrative this week around Zach Butters and I'm sure Lance Collard will be part of it as well. So busy week at the tribunal. So the Butters appeal is tonight? That's tonight. Yeah. We don't know when Lance Collard is yet, but Butters appeal is tonight.

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50.464 - 53.388 Tom Morris

Yeah. What else are we keeping tabs on?

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53.528 - 74.431 Gerard Whateley

So I always tread very carefully, Gerard, with medical issues, medically contentious issues in particular. Yeah. And this one was certainly contentious this time last year when Sam Darcy elected not to have surgery on his knee after injuring it at Marvel Stadium. He didn't rupture his ACL. There was bone bruising. There was a hyperextension.

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74.931 - 89.185 Gerard Whateley

And I've spoken to a couple of medical professionals this morning, and the best way to describe what else was wrong with the knee was there was like a divot in the knee. It was like there was a dimple that you get when you injure your knee badly. And that's quite normal for this sort of thing. So...

89.165 - 107.945 Gerard Whateley

Had David Young operated, he's the Western Bulldogs go-to guy normally, had David Young operated as he was prepared to do, they would have repaired that divot at the time. That would have been part of the operation on his knee. But for a variety of complex reasons, I don't need to go into all of them today. Darcy decided not to have surgery.

108.305 - 127.812 Gerard Whateley

That was Julian Feller's advice, who's also a guru in this space. And the divot healed over. Now, I'm not saying either was right or wrong. That's not my area. But what I am saying is just have a listen to Dr. Peter Larkins, this time last year, talk about Sam Darcy's knee and what was wrong with it and what are the potential ramifications if you don't treat it properly at the time.

127.792 - 146.918 Dr. Peter Larkins

Imagine the bone getting bumped and dented in like that. So to do that, you actually pretty heavily damage the cartilage, the protective cushioning on the bone to do that. So going forward, the bone recovers. You break your arm, it's better in six weeks. The bone heals up. But when you're talking about cartilage inside an ankle or a knee or a hip, the cartilage can then peel off.

146.938 - 166.303 Dr. Peter Larkins

And that's what arthritis is. It's when you lose bone protection. So, there is a potential, depending on when they look at it, they'll see what the cartilage bruising or cartilage damage is. The bone will heal itself, but the ligaments are the things that can stay loose in the future. And so, that's probably the more of the consequences will we have further problems with the ligaments.

Chapter 3: What happened with Sam Darcy's knee injury and surgery decision?

208.323 - 226.996 Gerard Whateley

He gets back in six weeks and he plays on. But there was an element of risk carried with not going under the knife last year. And I think that's a pretty objectively accurate thing to say based on the people I was talking to this morning. All right, now facing the full knee reconstruction. Full knee reconstruction. I think he's meeting with a specialist later today, and we wish him well. Okay.

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227.016 - 243.011 Gerard Whateley

Yeah. What else have you got? Lots of injuries over the weekend. Simo just mentioned a couple. So Noah Answorth, another concussion for him, which is a concern. So Cozzy Pickett. This is a unique situation. Cozzy Pickett bumped Answorth in the side and Answorth then ricocheted into Brodie Mycheck.

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243.551 - 266.183 Gerard Whateley

And I don't think Cozzy Pickett's going to have any concerns here from the MRO perspective because in order to have any concerns, the MRO would have to prove that Pickett knew that Mycheck was there and that it would injure Brodie. injure the player, injure Answorth. So I don't expect MRO concerns. But the injuries at the Brisbane Lions are a bit of concern. Jared Berry with his calf.

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266.563 - 285.002 Gerard Whateley

We know they're missing Eric Hipwood. They're missing Dan Annabelle as well. Bruce Reveal was a little bit sore as well yesterday. Lockie Neal, as Simo just mentioned, had his foot stamped on. So the Lions, they're 3-3. They're going fine. But they do have a few injury concerns. And as you mentioned, none of these guys are getting back anytime soon.

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284.982 - 306.113 Gerard Whateley

It's the lack of continuity that they're going through. That's right. That's right. The Elijah Hollands discussion continues. So we wait to know what the outcome will be of this investigation and the review. But I trust Graeme Wright when he says he's going to leave no stone unturned to find out exactly what went on. Just important to note that...

307.19 - 325.896 Gerard Whateley

while there is alignment that this was a mental health episode between the AFL and the PA and Carlton Football Club, that doesn't discount other elements being at play. And as far as I know, the AFL hasn't discounted those elements. And we might never know those elements unless, of course, WADA – drug tested him on the day, and we don't know if they did.

326.617 - 348.807 Gerard Whateley

And if we did know, then it would be like Joel Smith or any other AFL player. So in lieu of all that, I'm strong in my view that the AFL, unless they find some sort of gross misconduct, which they haven't as yet, or gross negligence, won't come down as hard on Carlton as they have done on other clubs in the past. I think there'll be some sort of sanction of some sort,

348.787 - 372.922 Gerard Whateley

but I'm not sure it's going to be this big $100,000 thing or loss of draft picks or anything like that. I think the more likely scenario is it would be a lesser sanction into research how the industry can deal with a mental health episode like this going forward collectively, a bit like the Petrarca aftermath. If we see this again, how can we do it better?

373.202 - 389.984 Gerard Whateley

I think that's the far more likely scenario. And I think that would suit the entire industry really well, even if it is a rare thing. David King said this morning, this is a one to 20 year event. I would argue that this sort of thing happens more than we know. An anxiety attack, a panic attack pre-game that the club massages and the player ends up playing.

Chapter 4: How do medical professionals view Sam Darcy's knee injury aftermath?

429.526 - 450.229 Gerard Whateley

Edwards misses the rest of the game. He ends up passing the HIA. So are we comfortable? This is just an open question. Are we comfortable with a doctor essentially overruling the club doctor to make sure a player comes off? If this is Nick Dacos in a prelim or Bontempele in a prelim, that's a huge call to make. And those are the processes that the AFL is looking at today.

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450.249 - 473.525 Gerard Whateley

And they were looking at it yesterday as well. It's the chain of events that Laura Kane's team will be assessing as this week goes on to make sure that everything that took place over the weekend was fair and just. Yes, because it worked well in the Answorth case. It did. It worked well. Yeah, it did. Kingy asked me this morning, has Essendon frustrated or angry at this?

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473.565 - 483.064 Gerard Whateley

And not that I'm aware, I just think it's something that needs to be clarified 100% to make sure that we all know this is the process, this is what takes place. All right.

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483.044 - 501.694 Tom Morris

Tom, thank you. Thanks, Gerard. Tom Morris, whether it's selling your livestock or selling your home, contact Alex Scott and staff today. I'll run you through some messages. In a few moments' time, the 40 Wings Temper Tech 0433 98 11 16. The difference is temper. And Robert Craddock, all of his wisdom and experience we will draw on next.

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501.794 - 509.254 Tom Morris

For City Power, Melbourne's weather, mostly sunny, a top of 22. City Power, working in all conditions to keep your power connected. Essential as.

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