Crows count cost of showdown victory - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Crows count cost of showdown victory

By Daniel Brettig And Sam Lienert 06/04/2008 09:41:20 PM Comments (0)

The cost of Adelaide's epic AFL win over Port Adelaide can be measured in an injury list that should leave Hawthorn heavy favourites to beat the Crows in Launceston next week.

Key defender Nathan Bassett must be in considerable doubt after suffering heavy concussion, while Kris Massie (hamstring), Jason Porplyzia (shoulder) and Luke Jericho (heavy knock) will be decidedly sore on Monday.

Even best afield Bernie Vince had to shrug off a hefty bump from Daniel Motlop that may have seen him spend more time off the field if the Crows weren't already down to 19 fit players.

Jericho and Porplyzia were also forced to return to the field in the second half.

Crows coach Neil Craig though was confident of his club's recuperative powers.

"(We will take time to recover) only because of the injury factor, we've got some injuries out of it but physically they're fine," he said.

Port Adelaide did not escape punishment either, as Shaun Burgoyne finished the match as a reduced capacity full forward due to an ankle complaint.

West Coast star ruckman Dean Cox will have scans to assess the extent of a foot injury sustained in the club's weekend AFL loss to Fremantle.

Cox was on crutches at the recovery session, although an Eagles spokesman played down the injury, saying the crutches were for precautionary reasons, to keep the weight off the big man's right foot.

The injury was sustained in odd circumstances, Cox's foot colliding with teammate David Wirrpanda as he was kicking in the first quarter.

He limped off the ground but returned not long after and played out the rest of the match without too much apparent restriction.

Meanwhile, pacey Essendon forward Leroy Jetta is expected to miss two or three weeks of football after injuring his hamstring in the club's narrow win over Carlton.

Jetta felt a twinge in his right hamstring during their clash at the MCG, with the club rating it as a minor strain.

"It is very disappointing because Leroy was a good contributor early in the game," Bombers coach Matthew Knights said.

Ruckman David Hille spent some time off the ground as a result of a pinched nerve in his neck, but returned to play an important role in the victory and is not expected to miss any games.

In other injury news, Hawthorn pair Tom Murphy (concussion) and Tim Boyle (buttock) copped heavy knocks in Saturday's win over North Melbourne at Telstra Dome, causing them to finish the match in the rooms.

But the Hawks are confident both players will be available to face Adelaide.

Fremantle pair Roger Hayden (knee) and Antoni Grover (buttock) will both need to prove their fitness ahead of next Sunday's Subiaco clash with Richmond, after sustaining minor injuries against the Eagles.

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