Collingwood captain Darcy Moore says “it didn’t feel right” that play was allowed to continue after Lachie Schultz’s scary concussion.
Schultz was evidently dazed after a significant fourth-quarter collision with Fremantle’s Jordan Clark, who was in possession of the ball at the time of contact.
The small forward struggled to gather himself in the aftermath, even while in the hands of medical staff, but play was allowed to continue as the Pies went forward and Jamie Elliott capitalised with a set shot goal.
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Sixteen seconds of open play elapsed between the collision and Jamie Elliott marking inside-50 for the Pies, with no whistle from the umpires to halt play.
Speaking to Fox Footy’s Kath Loughnan post-game, Moore took the opportunity to explain just how “rattling” a circumstance it was for himself and his teammates to observe in real-time.
“First things first, when you see an incident like what happened with Lachie Schultz, just competing so hard, it’s just so rattling to see,” Moore said late Thursday night.
“And it’s a reminder, I suppose, for everyone watching at home, everyone at the stadium, just the risks that the guys take in stepping out here, and what they’re prepared to do.
“We love ‘Shooter’, he’s one of our favourite teammates, he does that stuff week in, week out — it’s pretty rattling to see.
“When the game’s on the line, to have one of your heart and soul players experience that — a concussion like that — it’s pretty rattling.
“To be able to kind of brush that off in a sense and then deliver and get the four points on the road on a short turnaround sums up our group at the moment.”
Moore revealed players from Collingwood and Fremantle believed the game should have been stopped to allow trainers to safely remove Schultz from the field.
“We were pretty concerned at how severe he looked, how disorientated he looked,” he continued on Fox Footy.
“Players on both teams thought the game should’ve been stopped at least for 20 seconds to let him off the ground.
“Obviously, a lot of the Freo guys are connected to Lachie as well, so that was really our first concern, because of just how nasty it looked.
Moore added that play continuing while Schultz was visibly struggling “didn’t feel right”.
“It felt like … well, 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 — it felt like it was right in that moment (for play to stop), but clearly it only happens when it’s near the play,” the Magpies’ skipper said.
“It felt like, out here in the moment, (when) someone’s in a state like that and we’re still running around chasing the footy — it didn’t feel right.”
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Following the interview, Dockers legend Matthew Pavlich said: “You could see how much it affected the players out there, when a teammate goes down like that … a talking point, I’m sure.”
Unfortunately, it is Schultz’s second concussion in the space of a year, having also suffered one in 2021. He’ll be placed in protocols and will miss at least the Pies’ Round 10 clash with Adelaide.
Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph outlined the situation from an AFL umpiring standpoint.
“It was about 10 seconds from (Schultz) being hit — the ball spilled around, it went forward and Jamie Elliott took the mark,” he began on Fox Footy’s post-game coverage.
“The AFL umpires have total discretion over that one, and so as Laura Kane said when commenting on the Harrison Jones injury (last week) … It is up to the umpires, and as Laura said, it is all about safety — it’s all about making conservative calls.
“He was still coming off the ground there when that goal was kicked, and so you’d think that if they (the umpires) had their druthers, they would have stopped that play.”
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