McKay’s baffling knee injury leaves Blues short on firepower in Pies loss
Carlton have been unable to shed any light on Harry McKay’s baffling knee injury after a moment of friendly fire sidelined the key forward during the Blues’ disappointing 21-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night.
McKay bumped knees with teammate Sam Walsh early in the first quarter of the match in an awkward clash that commentators described as innocuous-looking in its intensity.
But despite the seemingly benign nature of the impact, McKay was unable to run, and took himself from the ground.
His absence left the Carlton forward line lacking in aerial power and short on potency as they failed to capitalise on adequate supply, losing 14.6 (90) to 10.9 (69) to a more efficient Magpie outfit.
The loss – the second in succession under caretaker coach Josh Fraser, has all but ruled the Blues out of the wildcard race.
“The information we got, he wasn’t okay to continue,” Fraser said of the moment the Blues lost McKay. “So, we’ll get a scan on him and assess him early in the week.
“I can’t right now shed any more light on Harry’s situation other than he couldn’t come back into the field.”
Fraser refused to be drawn on the severity of the clash.
“Those ones can sometimes look worse than what they appear,” he said. “I don’t know. I haven’t received any more information on it.”
Fox Footy commentator David King was perplexed by McKay’s injury.
“No one is questioning whether he is injured or not,” King said post-game. “We are just wondering if it is a pain issue or is it a structural issue. He’s heading for scans, so we will find out more.
“When it has such an influence on the group. It changes six or seven roles in the team, and they were right in the game. It’s a significant talking point. It’s [an incident] that looks really passive.”
Collingwood coach Craig McRae agreed that McKay’s absence for most of the night aided an undermanned Magpies backline minus Darcy Moore (season) and Jeremy Howe.
“It’s significant because then there’s a flow-on effect for rucks and all sorts of things,” McRae said.
“I know in our coaches’ box, you get busy, and you have what ifs – if he [McKay] is getting out of control, and he’s been playing a lot more in the ruck, which affects clearances and other things, so yeah, those things don’t help you.”
Carlton gave up the first three goals of the night, but clawed their way back into the match, trailing by just two points at quarter-time.
For periods of the game in the second and third terms, they looked to have Collingwood’s measure thanks largely to the grunt work of Patrick Cripps and the class of youngster Jagga Smith.
But bad kicking at goal and the loss of wingman Adam Cerra (hamstring) in the second term proved costly.
While the defeat has taken the shine off Fraser’s honeymoon period, he remained circumspect.
“Nine weeks ago, we knew that we had to continue to grow our game and play a style of football that, we believe, will stack up moving forward for this footy club,” he said.
“Part of that is understanding that we have to be able to change the way we play in games, and we’re not at that level just yet.”
Playing Collingwood at the MCG has not been a happy hunting ground for the Blues.
In their round six clash this year, youngster Talor Byrne missed an after-the-siren shot on goal that resulted in a five-point loss, while the night was overshadowed by Elijah Hollands’ unusual behaviour during the game.
Fraser said the Blues were continuing to support 24-year-old Hollands, who is unlikely to play again this year.
“My understanding with Elijah is he’s getting all the support he needs, both through the club and privately, and we’re all in the space of wanting to see him return to full health, and we’re supportive of that,” Fraser said.
For McRae, the injury-plagued Magpies continued to find a way forward, having won their fifth game in a row after slipping out of the top 10.
On a night that they fielded inexperienced players such as Liam Puncher (three games), Charlie West (four games), Sam Swadling (five games) and Angus Anderson (11 games), they still manufactured 90 points.
Necessity was the mother of invention.
During an 18-minute period of the third term, at a stage they were trailing Carlton by four points, the Magpies snapped four goals from general play -two to Tim Membrey and one each to Ned Long and Sam Swadling.
They did so by bringing the ball to ground in dangerous areas, generally 30m in front of goal.
McRae said they adapted their approach after Carlton defender Nick Haynes took six intercept marks before half-time.
“You can’t get the ball back at times,” he said. “Teams are too good to get the ball back off. But when you start to get the ball to ground, that’s a different model.
“We don’t have too many 200cm players that are going to jump over backs to take marks. But get the ball to ground and all of a sudden we start scoring, so there was definitely a plan around that.”
Membrey was the top scorer for Collingwood with three goals, while Long, Daniel McStay and Beau McCreery all kicked two.
But the outstanding player of the night was once again Nick Daicos. He carved a swathe through the Carlton midfield with a game-high 36 possessions and almost certainly three Brownlow votes.
For the Blues, Cripps had 30 disposals and Smith had 29, but their Achilles heel was their forward line.
They will be sweating on McKay’s scans ahead of next week’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium.
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