‘That is staggering’: Dawson enters concussion protocols after initially playing on after knock

An AFL great has questioned the process of allowing concussed Crows skipper Jordan Dawson’s Head Injury Assessment (HIA) to take place on the ground in Friday night’s thrilling win over Essendon amid injury fallout for Matthew Nicks’ side.

Dawson late in the third term copped a nasty knock from Nate Caddy and was left dazed but stayed on the ground after being treated to by medicos.

The Adelaide star eventually exited the game in the fourth quarter and was subsequently put in concussion protocols.

As such, Crows coach Matthew Nicks confirmed post-match Dawson won’t face Hawthorn next week.

“We basically got the message upstairs at a point through the last quarter that Jordan has gone off and won’t be able to come back on,” Nicks told reporters.

“Unfortunately I believe he’s in the protocols now, which means he won’t be available next week. Really it’s his health which is most important.”

It came after a chaotic week in the footy landscape where the state of the game was a major talking point following Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford’s three-match bans for dangerous tackles – which were both overturned at the AFL Appeals Board on a legal technicality.

Melbourne legend Garry Lyon was stunned that the AFL was allowing HIA tests take place on the field rather than being conducted more thoroughly.

“That is staggering … If it is a hamstring, they ain’t doing it on the ground. This is a brain injury, get the bloke off and do it properly,” he told Fox Footy.

Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph also questioned the league’s current processes around head knock assessments.

“The AFL told us today that accidents happen in football, so I’m sure that Caddy’s absolutely fine, he was playing the ball and kicking the ball off the ground … he’ll be fine,” Ralph said on Fox Footy.

“I just think with the change in community attitudes that the AFL is so keen on bringing in, you would just love to see some of those HIAs for such significant force would take place off the ground. But that’s not what the AFL is telling us they’re required to do right now.”

It was a similar incident to star Saints ruckman Rowan Marshall being allowed to stay on the field after copping a knee to the back of the head in last month’s clash with West Coast – an incident that was widely questioned.

Dawson’s setback wasn’t the only big collision on the night, with Ben Keays facing potential scrutiny from the Match Review Officer for his tackle on Jye Caldwell that led to the Essendon midfielder being subbed out.

In a sigh of relief for the Bombers, however, senior coach Brad Scott confirmed Caldwell was “fine” post-match and said he passed a concussion test.

And in addition to Dawson’s concussion, the Crows had multiple setbacks including a Jordon Butts ankle injury, while an early knee injury to defender Nick Murray had fans terrified after he seemingly hurt the same knee he suffered an ACL injury on 12 months ago.

The 23-year-old needed a knee reconstruction after his round 19 injury last season and has only recently made it back on the field.

But early in his side’s round 19 clash against Essendon, Murray left the field and went directly to the rooms after going straight to the doctors himself.

Just before quarter time, Murray was back on the boundary line and looking at footage with doctors.

Next time he was on camera was at the beginning of the second quarter when Murray was seen putting on a hoodie with plenty of concern about his welfare as news came through that he’d been subbed out for Brayden Cocks.

Channel 7’s Abbey Holmes said: “He came from the ground pointing at the left knee and went straight down into the rooms with the doctor. He resurfaced just before the quarter-time break.

“He has spent significant time looking through some vision with the medical staff and during the quarter-time break he did a fitness test — changing direction, really testing out that knee. Unfortunately he is not starting this second term on the ground.”

“You could tell the way the doctors were looking at that, they looked ultra concerned,” Brian Taylor said.

However, Matthew Richardson hoped that the Crows were just being “ultra conservative”.

“(The Crows) love this guy, they just got their balance back, they want him and Jordon Butts down back as their pillars. Disappointing for the young man,” he said.

On Fox Footy, the concern was equally palpable.

“This is sad, well hopefully not sad. But it’s not great news at the moment with Nick Murray subbed out,” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

At halftime, Lyon said there had been “tears and emotional in the dugout”.

Jon Ralph said: “Adelaide would be really concerned about that knee, it was the same left knee that saw him tear it 12 months ago in an ACL. Adelaide tells me they’re not quite sure whether it’s an ACL but until those scans clear it, they’ll be extremely worried”.

It’s been a brutal 12 months for the youngster, who was playing in just his fifth match of the season, having had an AFL-high 15 spoils in the Crows’ round 18 clash with St Kilda.

Fans were devastated by the latest setback.

Former Crow and Swan turned radio personality Ryan Fitzgerald posted: “Don’t like the look on Nick Murray’s face. He’s such a good human and has worked his arse off to get back into the team. Hoping the knee’s OK.”

Seven’s Mitch Cleary tweeted: “Nick Murray subbed out with a left knee injury. It’s the same knee he suffered a ruptured ACL on in July last year.”

Another fan commented: “As soon as they said Nick Murray had a knee concerned, I feared the worst. This is just cruel.”

Another fan wrote: “Nick Murray acl has me sick.”

Another questioned: “DID NICK MURRAY JUST DO HIS ACL?”

Another added: “Not Nick Murray”.

Post-game, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said the club were all thinking “positive thoughts”.

“He has to have a scan on that,” Nicks said. “I don’t want to say we’re confident but we’re going to stay really positive. As you can imagine he’s quite emotional at the moment but we’ll just keep thinking positive thoughts and hopefully that one comes out the right way.”

Murray himself spoke about the issue on Channel 7, saying he just “didn’t want to take any risk”.

“If you compare it to last time, I’ve still got full extension of the knee, there’s not much swelling, it’s just more of a conservative approach,” he said. “There’s no risk.”

The Crows and Bombers were playing out an entertaining end-to-end shootout.

After Essendon took a five-point lead into the first break, the Crows booted eight straight goals and nine for the second quarter to take a 23-point lead to the main break.

But it didn’t last long as the Bombers flipped the script, responding with seven straight of their own through the second and third quarters to retake the lead by 10 at the final break.

Essendon looked to have done enough to claim the victory, but the late surge saw the Crows snatch the lead through Rachele’s goal, needing to rush two behinds to hang on for the victory.