Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has fired up at AFL officials for not stopping his side’s clash against Fremantle on Thursday night after his team-mate Lachie Schultz was involved in a horrific collision on the pitch.
The Pies weathered a late final quarter push from Fremantle to secure a 12.11 (83) to 15.7 (97) victory against the Dockers, with Jack Crisp finding redemption from last week’s heartbreak with a brace of majors.
But with Freo chasing down the lead in the final quarter, Jordan Clark would recover the ball in the middle of the pitch, before coming up against his former team-mate, Schultz.
The Pies half-forward smashed into the Freo half-back, wrapping his arms around his former team-mate in a brutal and brave collision, but would come off second best.
Despite putting all his weight into the tackle, the Collingwood half-forward’s body position was too high, with the 27-year-old absorbing Clark’s momentum and falling to the ground underneath his opponent. Schultz appeared to suffer a head injury in the process.
Distressing scenes erupted, with the 27-year-old Magpies star appearing to have lost consciousness in the contact.
Thankfully, the footy star was seen running off the pitch alongside club doctors and was later seen joining in with his team-mates for the team’s song.
He also walked around the rooms chatting to members of the team.
But a worried and disappointed Moore expressed concerns over why officials did not stop the match, having seen how disorientated the former Freo star had looked.
‘We were pretty concerned at how severe he looked and players from both teams thought the game should have been stopped, obviously a lot of Freo guys connected to Lachie,’ Moore said to Fox Footy.
‘That was really our first concern because of how nasty it looked.’
Pressed further on whether he thought the game should have been stopped, the Pies captain added: ‘He was right in front of me, so I could see how much he struggled walking.
‘So it just felt like 20 seconds – it was a set shot anyway – so it felt like it was right in that moment. But clearly it only happens when it’s near the play.
‘It felt like out here in the moment that when someone’s in a state like that and we’re running around chasing the footy, it didn’t feel right.’
Moore, though, was proud of how his team reacted after losing Schultz to weather a late flurry of majors from the Dockers.
‘But to re-group and execute under pressure, the crowd gets up and about. The Freo team score a few goals and the game is on the line and to be able to re-group and then execute was awesome.
The heat is set to further intensify on Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir after a six-goal haul from Jamie Elliott led the undermanned Pies to the 14-point win.
Off the back of a five-day break and missing four key players, Collingwood made the most of their limited forward 50m entries to post the 15.7 (97) to 12.11 (83) win in front of 47,780 fans on Thursday night.
Elliott was the star of the show with 6.2 from 14 disposals, while Jack Crisp tallied 29 disposals, six clearances, 718m gained and one goal just a week after missing his after-the-siren shot in a three-point loss to Geelong.
Fremantle won the clearances 44-29 and the forward 50m count a whopping 63-34 in what was a much-improved showing from last week’s listless 61-point loss to St Kilda.
But the Dockers’ haphazard entries cost them dearly, with Collingwood’s defence able to pick off the ball time and again in a masterclass display of counter-attack football.
It left Fremantle nursing a 4-5 record and needing to answer all sorts of questions about why their talent-laden squad can’t get the job done.
In a further blow, injury-prone ruckman Sean Darcy was subbed out during the third quarter with what appeared to be a calf injury.
It was a brave win for Collingwood, who were able to improve their season record to 7-2 despite being without Brody Mihocek, Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey and Brayden Maynard for Thursday’s match.
Star midfielder Nick Daicos tallied just 18 disposals, four clearances and a goal while batting a hip-back issue, while Lachie Schultz was heavily concussed early in the final quarter, just minutes after Steele Sidebottom was subbed out.
Schultz was knocked out after copping a shoulder to the head while laying a tackle on Jordan Clark.
Clark (33 disposals) played a pivotal role in defence for Fremantle, while Andrew Brayshaw (33 disposals, six clearances) was busy in the midfield.
Fremantle enjoyed a dream start to the match.
Josh Treacy, who was held scoreless last week, kicked the first two goals of the contest, and it was 21-1 when Isaiah Dudley joined in on the fun.
The Magpies kicked the final four goals of the quarter to take a five-point lead into quarter time, with Schultz’s desperate pressure without the ball leading to two of those majors.
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce marked the upcoming one-year anniversary of Cam McCarthy’s death by kicking a long-range goal to start the second quarter.
Pearce paid tribute to his good mate by kissing the word Dardy – McCarthy’s nickname – which was written on his tape.
Fremantle led the clearance count 25-16 at half-time, but their wayward entries into attack made it easy for Collingwood’s defenders to intercept.
Collingwood’s ability to get out the back to score goals on the counter continued in the third quarter.
Two goals to Hill helped extend the margin to 21 points, but his set shot miss from 35m kept the door open for Fremantle.
Patrick Voss nailed a set-shot banana a short time later to close the gap to 15 points at the final change, but two clutch set shots from Elliott in the opening minutes of the last quarter gave Collingwood the breathing space they needed.
Elliott ended with three goals for the quarter to see off Fremantle’s late challenge, while Bobby Hill kicked three goals for the match.
More to follow…
