‘Sad footy story’: Giants left ‘devastated, very emotional’ in shattering injury blow

The Giants have been dealt a heartbreaking mid-game blow, with livewire forward Darcy Jones subbed out of their elimination final with a suspected serious injury.

Jones had only just nailed a stunning running goal against Hawthorn in the sec0nd term before landing awkwardly on his right knee.

He immediately came from the field and underwent a thorough test on his knee before being officially subbed out of the game for Josh Kelly.

Watch every match of the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

“The mechanism there is not what you want to see for a young player. He grabs his knee and is in considerable pain,” triple premiership Lion Alastair Lynch told Fox Footy.

“The pain goes reasonably quickly, he limps off the ground and is in the hands of the doctor and medical staff. Devastated and very emotional.

“You can see when they were testing the knee and the mobility, there was a lot of movement in that knee.

“Not to be confirmed yet, but it does appear it is a bad knee injury that could keep him on the sidelines for a considerable time.”

An emotional Jones then limped around the ENGIE Stadium boundary line with ice on his knee before making his way into the Giants’ rooms.

Giants coach Adam Kingsley was left distraught on the bench.

“The applause (around the ground) is of course for Darcy Jones, who we fear the worst (for),” Melbourne champion Garry Lyon told Fox Footy. “We’ll wait and see how it unfolds, but the reaction from the coach suggests that it’s not great.

“That’s a sad footy story.”

Jones was taken by the Giants with Pick 21 in the 2022 draft, but was sidelined for the entirety of his first AFL season after suffering an ACL in the opening stages of his first competitive VFL hit-out in Giants colours.

He has played 37 AFL games for the Giants.

MORE TO COME