Essendon held on for a narrow victory against North Melbourne, but one devastating incident put a dampener on the result.
In a low-scoring clash at Marvel Stadium, it was the Bombers who walked away with the crucial 65-62 win to keep them within striking distance of the AFL’s top-eight.
However, it did come at a price with Harrison Jones suffering a dislocated ankle.
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The 24-year-old leapt for a ball before it went out of bounds, but landed awkwardly and immediately clutched at his lower leg and stayed down against the fence.
Jones was taken from the field via medicab after a lengthy delay.
Harrison Jones leaves the field with an ankle injury. AFL Photos via Getty Images
“That’s not a good sign,” Mark Howard said on Fox Footy.
“You heard ‘hold on, we need a stretcher’ which is really bad news.”
Wide World of Sports have opted not to show footage or images of the incident.
Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph spoke as the Essendon players and staff reacted to the injury.
“Horrible scenes here as Harrison Jones taken off in a medical cart. The entire Essendon medical fraternity attempted to comfort him there,” he said.
“They’ll be really worried about a fractured ankle. Really sombre scenes here as the Essendon players looking on as he was finally taken off on the medical cart.
There was also criticism that play was allowed to continue while medical staff hurried to attend to Jones, despite him being outside the field of play.
“That’s bizarre,” David King said on commentary.
“I mean, if the stretcher’s coming on the field, the game stops. That’s an error.”
