A suspected ruptured ACL suffered by young gun Liam Kershaw has soured St Joseph’s 15th consecutive GFNL win.
The talented winger, who made his VFL debut for Geelong a fortnight ago and was expected to be part of the Geelong Falcons’ push for the Talent League premiership, was forced from Drew Oval late in the first quarter of Joeys’ 58-point victory.
Vision shows Kershaw clutching at his left knee after going back to retrieve the ball after fumbling a handpass from teammate Jack Mullen.
Coach Ron Watt didn’t see the incident but said the club feels for the 18-year-old.
“He was in a fair bit of pain. We’re not quite sure what the extent of the injury is,” Watt said.
“He just could not move at all, and we sent him home before half-time.
“He was cold, he was in agony, and he was better off trying to be comfortable.
“We’ll see where it goes from there during the week.”
Watt says Kershaw was “pretty philosophical” during their exchanges on Saturday night.
“He’ll deal with what he has to and get back at it,” Watt said.
“Out of these situations, something will come of it.
“If he has to stay off his legs for a while, we’ll work on the other parts of his body he needs to get stronger in.”
Kershaw wasn’t the only injury concern for St Joseph’s from their 15.11 (101) to 6.7 (43) result.
Joel Edwards and Felix Henderson suffered rolled ankles.
Edwards will likely miss the post-bye meeting with Grovedale, but Watt expects Henderson to be right to take on the improving Tigers.
Watt was pleased with the victory, which took St Joseph’s a step closer to their first minor premiership since 2017.
“We worked really hard against a good opposition,” he said. “I thought we controlled the game for large periods.
“They were a really strong, physical opponent, and we were glad for the hitout.
“I thought we did a lot right to shape what we do over the next eight weeks.”
Paddy DeGrandi’s Mathieson Medal-contending season continued with another four goals, taking him to 51.
Jack Mullen kicked a season-high four goals in an eye-catching performance.
“Jack did find himself on the end of the ball a little bit yesterday,” Watt said.
“He got a lot of the ball around the ground.”
Sean Barnes and Jacson Collins were best in a losing cause for the Giants, who will face Lara following their bye in a standalone Sunday clash on August 18.
GFNL: SCOREBOARD – ROUND 15 (Part 1)
Meanwhile, Colac has brought St Albans back to earth with a percentage-boosting 143-point smashing at Concept Oval.
Led by nine goals from Adam Garner, which gives him a seven-goal lead in the race for the GFNL goal-kicking title, the Tigers ran out comfortable 29.17 (191) to 8.0 (48) winners.
Darcy Lang (five goals) and the recalled Joel Cooper (four) were also busy inside forward 50 for Colac.
At the other end, Harrison Cockerell kicked four goals to take his season tally to 17.
The Supersaints went into the clash without midfielder Sam Donegan (VFL) and injured key forward Hayden Elliott.
The first half of the split round concludes this (Sunday) afternoon when Newtown & Chilwell and Grovedale do battle at Elderslie Reserve.
Hear the broadcast via krockfootball.live
