Young Cat Max Holmes was distressed and despondent with his face buried in the MCG turf, as he feared his grand final dream was all but over.
But those fears may have been premature with Geelong coach Chris Scott now “optimistic” the 20-year-old could remarkably feature next Saturday, despite limping off in his side’s 71-point preliminary final win.
Holmes pulled up lame and immediately made his way to the bench in the third term as he looked to have sustained an apparent hamstring injury.
He was clearly upset on the sidelines before being taken down into the rooms before three quarter time.
Scott says he went down to see Holmes and was given news that got him “up on my toes”.
“They are optimistic that he’ll play,” Scott said post-match.
“It didn’t look like that to me so that made a good night better.
“I went down there thinking the worst. And I bounced out of the rooms as well at three quarter time.
“It’s not a sure thing, but my understanding is when the guys I’m talking about, and the quality of our medical staff, when they say they’re optimistic, it gets me up on my toes.”
Holmes will now have scans to determine the extent of his hamstring injury.
Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph laughed as he described the immediate reaction to Scott’s injury claims, saying it made the coach sound like a “lunatic”.
“(Scott) sounds like a lunatic, when you correlate the desolation from Max Holmes and optimism from the coach,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to the club’s football boss Simon Lloyd in the last couple of minutes – he tells me that Holmes has had neuron hamstring pain before, he’s had these kinds of episodes. It’s basically back and hip related.
“He was walking up and down the boundary line pretty quickly afterwards feeling reasonable … (but) if those scans tomorrow show that he has muscle damage, he is done. Isn’t it so bizarre?”
Holmes had loomed as Geelong’s heartbreak tale when the youngster limped off the MCG.
“He was the highest rated player on the ground when he did this. He’s been so important,” Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon said.
“He’s been the highest rated wingman in the competition in the last two months.
“There’s the pain and the heartbreak.”
Nick Riewoldt said “your heart goes out to Max Holmes” as the Cats all but booked their grand final ticket before three quarter time.
“Footy is a hard, hard game,” he said.
“Geelong came in with a clean bill of health so your heart goes out to Max Holmes.”
Commentator Matthew Richardson said he feared Holmes knew the extent of his injury as he limped off.
“He knows what’s on the line here – let’s hope it’s not a strained muscle or something serious,” he said.
“You know when you’re injured – it’s not good for him.
“You’ve got to feel for the boy.”
Brian Taylor said there were “hard luck stories” in footy and it was a tough pill to swallow for Holmes, should his injury sideline him for the grand final.
“It’s not good – and that’s why he’s showing the disappointment,” Taylor said.
“That is a shocker if that is the case.”
Mark O’Connor was activated as the medi sub before three quarter time, and could be the man to come into the line up for the grand final berth.
“You assume you’re the first one in if you’re the sub, but Brandan Parfitt’s had a good year, (Sam) Menegola’s been making his way back. You never know with the Cats,” Jimmy Bartel said.
“O’Connor gives you that flexibility.”
“Where there’s a heartbreaking story in Holmes, there’s the opportunity for O’Connor and Parfitt and those players,” Taylor added.
The Cats weren’t the only side to activate their sub in the third term after Brisbane’s night went from bad to worse with youngster Cam Rayner limping from the field.
Rayner had been one of his side’s best in the preliminary final at the MCG, before a tangle of legs with teammate Dan McStay cut short the Lion’s night in the third term.
As both McStay and Rayner competed in the air, the youngster’s ankle got caught underneath his teammate.
The game was stopped as Rayner was unable to get to his feet unassisted.
“Player welfare the AFL’s number one priority in this situation, absolutely as it should be,” commentator James Brayshaw said.
“Friendly fire there with McStay landing his foot in exactly the wrong spot for Cam Rayner, who has been really good.
“That’s a very ginger Cam Rayner exiting the MCG.”
Rayner was helped from the field by two trainers before medical staff attempted to re-strap the injured right ankle.
“If this was a sprain, he’d be up by now I reckon,” commentator Brian Taylor said as Rayner stayed down.
“He can’t get any weight on that ankle at all.”
Commentator Daisy Pearce feared the injury was worse than first thought.
“Looks nasty doesn’t it? Normally an ankle, if it is just a sprain or a little stinger, you can usually get it moving, get to your feet. He’s in a lot of pain,” she said.
“He’s been one of the few to get out of stoppage.”
Rayner was able to warm up on the sidelines and return to the contest after eight minutes off for treatment.
But he didn’t last more than two minutes as the substitution was made in the third term.
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