McKay’s baffling knee injury leaves Blues short on firepower in Pies loss
Carlton were unable to shed light on Harry McKay’s surprising knee injury after a moment of friendly fire sidelined the key during the Blues’ disappointing 21-point defeat to Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night.
Early in the first quarter of the game, McKay took a knee with teammate Sam Walsh in an awkward confrontation that commentators described as harmless in its intensity.
But despite the seemingly benign nature of the collision, McKay was unable to escape and lifted himself off the ground.
His absence left the Carlton forward line starved of aerial power and underpowered due to their inability to capitalize on adequate supply, and they lost 14.6 (90) to 10.9 (69) to a more efficient Magpie team.
The second straight defeat under caretaker coach Josh Fraser has knocked the Blues out of the wild card race.
“Based on the information we received, it was not appropriate for him to continue,” Fraser said of the moment the Blues lost McKay. “So we will scan it and evaluate it at the beginning of the week.
“I cannot shed any further light on Harry’s situation at this time other than his inability to return to the field.”
Fraser refused to mention the seriousness of the conflict.
“These can sometimes look worse than they look,” he said. “I don’t know. I haven’t received any further information about it.”
Fox Footy commentator David King was stunned by McKay’s injury.
“No one is questioning whether he is injured or not,” King said after the match. “We’re just wondering if it’s a pain issue or a structural issue. He’s getting scans so we’ll find out more.”
“When you have that kind of impact on the group. Six or seven roles in the team are changing and they were in the game. That’s an important talking point. That’s [an incident] This seems really passive.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae admitted McKay’s absence for much of the night helped leave the Magpies’ backline understaffed, with the exception of Darcy Moore (season) and Jeremy Howe.
“It’s important because there’s a flow-on effect with backpacks and things like that,” McRae said.
“I know you are busy in our coaching box and what will happen if that happens. [McKay] “He’s getting out of control and playing a lot more in the backfield, which affects clearances and other things, so yeah, it doesn’t help you.”
Carlton scored the first three goals of the night but managed to claw their way back into the match, trailing by just two points at quarter-time.
They struggled to measure up to Collingwood in the second and third periods of play, thanks largely to the grunting work of Patrick Cripps and youngster Jagga Smith.
However, poor shots on goal and the loss of winger Adam Cerra (hamstring) in the second term proved costly.
Although the defeat robbed Fraser of the luster of his honeymoon period, he remained cautious.
“Nine weeks ago we knew we had to continue to improve our game and play a style of football that we believed would make progress for this football club,” he said.
“Part of that is understanding that we need to be able to change the way we play in games, and we’re not at that level yet.”
Playing Collingwood at the MCG has not been a happy hunting ground for the Blues.
In this year’s sixth round match, young player Talor Byrne missed the shot on goal after the siren, causing a five-point loss, while Elijah Hollands’ unusual behavior during the game cast a shadow over the night.
Fraser said the Blues continue to back Hollands, 24, who is unlikely to play again this year.
“My understanding of Elijah is that he is getting all the support he needs, both through the club and privately, and we all want to see him return to full health and we support that,” Fraser said.
With an injury setback for McRae, the Magpies continued to find a way forward by winning their fifth straight game after falling out of the top 10.
They still produced 90 points on the night they fielded inexperienced players such as Liam Puncher (3 games), Charlie West (4 games), Sam Swadling (5 games) and Angus Anderson (11 games).
Necessity was the mother of invention.
In an 18-minute period of the third term, at one stage when they trailed Carlton by four points, the Magpies scored four goals from general play; Two goals to Tim Membrey, one each to Ned Long and Sam Swadling.
They did this by bringing the ball down in dangerous areas, often 30 meters in front of the goal.
McRae said they adapted their approach after Carlton defender Nick Haynes was credited with six tackle points before half-time.
“Sometimes you don’t get the ball back,” he said. “Teams are very good at getting the ball back but when you start putting the ball down it’s a different model.
“We don’t have a lot of 200cm players to jump over the backs to get tackles. But put the ball down and suddenly we’re scoring goals, so there was definitely a plan around that.”
Membrey was the top scorer for Collingwood with three goals, while Long, Daniel McStay and Beau McCreery scored two goals.
However, the standout player of the night was again Nick Daicos. He has a huge lead in Carlton’s midfield with 36 games of possession and almost certainly three Brownlow votes.
The Blues had 30 disposals from Cripps and 29 from Smith, but their Achilles heel was the forward line.
They will be sweating over McKay’s scans ahead of their match against the Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium next week.
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