West Coast’s worst fears have been confirmed today when scans showed that star ruck Nic Naitanui has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Naitanui went down in the Eagles win over Collingwood on Sunday. This is his second ACL injury as he sustained his first, to his left knee, in 2016.
The Eagles have confirmed Nic Naitanui needs a knee reconstruction. https://t.co/yVB3QzUQxH
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) July 16, 2018
Naitanui took 19 months to return to AFL after the 2016 reconstruction and could take as long to recover his strength and explosiveness in the right knee again. This leaves the Eagles without the former All Australian for the rest of the season and probably all of 2019.
Adam Simpson was a shattered man post-game talking about Nic Naitanui's latest injury.
Recap today's action, plus all of round 17 in In Case You Missed It: https://t.co/P3cUiIUOmz pic.twitter.com/oZzZXV4He5
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) July 15, 2018
Scott Lycett is now expected to pick up Naitanui’s heavy workload. His ability to lead the ruck will be a key for West Coast’s flag chances this year. Lycett is still unsigned and available for free agency this year. West Coast will likely look at re-signing Andrew Gaff and Jeremy McGovern their highest priorities but Lycett’s value to the Eagles just rose significantly.
Read all about the Nic Naitanui knee injury on Australia’s biggest footy forum, Big Footy
