Questions have been asked about the handling of Brisbane defender Noah Answerth, who was groggy and in serious pain when he was helped from the field during the third quarter of the Lions’ clash with St Kilda.
AFL commentators on Fox Footy were baffled when the Brisbane trainers picked up the 26-year-old and walked him off the field, despite the fact he could barely lift his head.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Noah Answerth injured in Saints-Lions clash
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It was a scary moment when Answerth collapsed to the ground following a huge leap from St Kilda high-flyer Alix Tauru.
Tauru took the mark, but his knee appeared to collect Aswerth’s head, who ended up on the deck and was in immediate pain with concussion and rib concerns.
“He’s hurting there, Noah Answerth,” Richmond great Jack Riewoldt said in the commentary.
“You’d love to see the stretcher come out here.
“Yeah, I don’t know whether picking him up is the right way to go. You’ve got the stretcher there.”
Veteran caller Dwayne Russell added: “They’ve got as much time as they need.”
A mystified Riewoldt said it was a horrible look.
“He’s not in a good way here. This is not a great look for the game. You’ve got the stretcher there, have to use it,” he continued.
AFL great Jordan Lewis agreed.
“I don’t think it’s a great look having to watch someone walk off in in that type of shape,” Lewis said.
“You can take all the time in the world …”
While the Lions eventually came out on top, it was bruising encounter for both teams.
St Kilda’s Cooper Sharman was also ruled out with concussion in the third quarter, while Brisbane key defender Darcy Gardiner suffered a right shoulder injury (possibly a fractured collarbone) early in the final quarter.
At the time of the Answerth incident, the game was in the balance with just four points separating the teams.
But the Lions were able to regroup in the final term, kicking seven goals to two in the last to run away with a hard-fought 33-point win.
Jarrod Berry tagged Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and roughed up the Saints superstar to try and get under his skin, including sucking him into giving away a free kick for a high jumper punch in a second-quarter scuffle.
At halftime, Wanganeen-Milera had a game-high 17 disposals, three clearances and 352 metres gained, while Berry had 14 touches and two clearances.
After half-time, the Lions turned to their midfield brigade, led by skipper Josh Dunkley, to handle Wanganeen-Milera.
The gun Saint still finished with 29 disposals, 698 metres gained and five clearances, while Callum Wilkie was big down back for the Saints.
Berry had 31 disposals and 600 metres gained while Will Ashcroft (29 disposals, 11 clearances) was huge late along with Lachie Neale (19 disposals, eight clearances).
Dayne Zorko (28 disposals, 731 metres gained) was busy and Brisbane had 11 individual goalkickers.
Saints Liam Ryan and Cooper Sharman jagged three goals apiece and Jack Higgins and Mitch Owens snagged two.
Ryan could come under scrutiny for knocking over Berry off the ball in the second term.
Much of the build-up centred around Chris Fagan’s comments on St Kilda’s bevvy of highly-paid recruits and the Saints’ ongoing jabs at Brisbane’s father-son and academy concessions.
Both teams were horrendously inefficient around goal before Ryan finally dribbled through the opening major late in the first quarter.
St Kilda led by eight at halftime before Brisbane got up by two at the final change before their final-term blitz.
– With AAP
