Patrick Dangerfield has expressed sympathy for injured Carlton midfielder Marc Murphy, but says the heavy collision between the pair at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, which left Murphy with a broken shoulder, was just an unfortunate part of the game.
Dangerfield and Murphy were both left sprawled out on the ground in the second quarter after making simultaneous attempts to secure a loose ball on the wing.
Dangerfield, whose ribs felt the force of Murphy’s shoulder, was able to get to his feet and play out the match, eventually earning best-afield honours for his 35-possession and two-goal performance.
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But Murphy had to be helped to the interchange bench by trainers and played no further part, substituted out of the game at half-time. Scans on Monday revealed a fracture in his shoulder joint, which is expected to keep him sidelined for up to three months.
A renowned contested-ball player, Dangerfield said he didn’t think about the possible implications before launching himself at the footy and into dangerous territory on Sunday.
“It’s disappointing to see Marc out for 12 weeks or so. It was just one of those contests you don’t really think too much about,” Dangerfield told the Club’s official podcast Down the Guts.
“You just see the ball and you’ve got to put your body on top of it basically to try to trap it. That’s all I was trying to do. Unfortunately, ‘Murph’ and I collided.
“The contact was with my ribs. ‘Radar’ (Brent) Reilly was just warming my ribs up for training yesterday, which was great, so thanks Brent. No, they’re feeling good.”
Click the play button above to listen to Danger and special guest Jared Petrenko on the round nine edition of Down the Guts.
After the match, coach Brenton Sanderson praised both players for their “incredible commitment”, while also using the incident to highlight the potential repercussions of the new sliding rule.
Ranked 15th in the AFL in contested possession last year, the Crows underwent a drastic transformation over the summer and are now ranked No.1 in the competition for contested ball.
Sanderson admitted the Club’s “bruising” style of play left the players open to collision injuries, such as the one sustained by Murphy, but said he was confident it was a style that would hold up under pressure.
“We do play quite a barbaric style of footy at times, and there are going to be players who put themselves in a position where there is potential for injury and that’s just the nature of the best, unfortunately,” Sanderson told ABC Radio.
“Every team that we’ve played has lost the next week as well, which is an unusual stat but it might show it takes a little while to get over playing against us because it’s quite a bruising game. We’ve added a bit of muscle bulk to the players and they understand this style does stand up.
“Our record of 7-1 and looking for a really strong second-half of the season probably reflects it’s a style that does help you win. We won’t look further ahead then Collingwood this week, but the bigger picture is that we do have to sustain this form over the next 3-4 months.
“Whether we can do that or not is another question but we’re quietly confident we can sustain it for 22 rounds.”
The Crows will attempt to continue their good recent form against the Magpies, who have also won their past five matches, at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
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Only single daily tickets remain for the anticipated clash and Dangerfield said the players would get a “massive buzz” out of playing in front of a packed home crowd.
“It’s a great opportunity to fill AAMI Stadium. It’s a Saturday night, the perfect timeslot,” he said.
“A couple of weeks ago, we played in front of a good sized crowd here and the buzz you get every time you make a good tackle or spoil, or kick a goal … the crowd erupts.
“It’s massive for us and I really do think it improves our performance. If we can get 50,000 this week it’ll be terrific and I’m sure the boys will perform in front of a sell-out crowd.”
