Patrick Dangerfield details emerge as Geelong star ends up in hospital

Geelong coach Chris Scott has shed some light on the injury to AFL superstar Patrick Dangerfield that saw the champion midfielder taken to hospital after his side's loss to Port Adelaide on Thursday night. The Power surged clear with seven goals in 19 minutes to seal a 16.14 (110) to 11.6 (72) triumph at Adelaide Oval.

The Cats' loss was compounded by the scary injury to Dangerfield, who copped a heavy knock to the back in a collision with Port's Dan Houston in the second quarter. Dangerfield managed to play out the game - albeit in some discomfort - before being sent to hospital for observation afterwards.

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Speaking about the injury after the game, Geelong's coach said Dangerfield's injury got progressively worse to the point where it seemed like he could barely move. It was at that point the decision was taken to get checked out at hospital as a precautionary measure.

"He got that knock and just progressively seized up more and more," Geelong's coach said. "And to the point where, he's a warrior, but it didn't look to us like he could move.

"But he said he wanted to sort of keep trying. It was clear he just couldn't have an impact on the game."

Dangerfield was making his comeback from a hamstring injury suffered on May 6. However, Scott said it was still too early to determine the extent of his latest injury. "I could say it's a back spasm or something like that but the honest answer is I don't know," Scott added.

On Friday morning, however, Geelong shed more light on the injury in a short update on social media. "Danger has suffered a partially collapsed lung and cracked rib following a marking contest during the second quarter of Thursday night's match," the Cats statement read. It's unclear at this stage how long he's expected to be sidelined for.

Patrick Dangerfield injury adds to Geelong woes

Dangerfield's injury adds to a growing list for the Cats, who lost midfielder Tanner Bruhn to a shoulder injury in the third quarter. He's set to have scans on the AC joint, while a groin complaint to ruckman Jon Ceglar saw him become a late scratching against the Power.

Cam Guthrie (toe) and Sam Menengola (knee) are rated as out for the medium term on the Cats' vague injury list with key defender Esava Ratugolea rated as sidelined for the short term. Premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley (eye) will play limited minutes in the VFL this weekend in a concerning injury predicament for the Cats, whose finals hopes are in the balance, with their season now sitting at six wins and seven losses.

"The trend has been get a couple (of players) back, lose a couple," Scott said. "And it's not an excuse and I hope it doesn't sound that way.

"But there is a really strong correlation around the competition at the moment, the teams that have good availability and good cohesion are playing well. We were a case in point last year where ... when we got them all back and they played together week after week, we hit our straps. And we're optimistic that can happen again."

Port Adelaide top after 11th straight win

Things are looking much rosier for ladder-leaders Port, who slipped 21 points behind in the second quarter and were 13 points down three minutes into the third term, before their late charge home. An improbable Sam Powell-Pepper goal - a dribbling effort from the boundary line - sparked a match-defining scoring spree as the Power notched their 12th win of the season.

Ken Hinkley's outfit, with 12 wins and two losses, will keep top billing for at least a week, with the Magpies (11-2) having a bye this weekend. "We have got some consistent themes to the way we play and tonight we demonstrated those themes in that third quarter again," Hinkley said. We have won 11 in a row ... collectively they have been remarkable."

with AAP

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