Christian Petracca’s season is over after undergoing emergency surgery on Monday night for what proved the most severe grading of a ruptured spleen, added to four broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Horrific internal injuries by any measure.
In the 24 hours that followed the King’s Birthday we heard that the AFL Chief Medical Officer had ticked off the procedures undertaken by Melbourne on the day.
There was no detail as to what those procedures were… nor on what basis the League approved of what looked like a particularly troubling situation.
Today the AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon offered this explanation on 3AW.
“First of all, I’m really glad to hear that he’s on the mend because it was a really serious injury,” said Dillon.
“His season is over, but he’s on the mend and I’m glad to hear that.
“He got a heavy knock, but our players are incredibly courageous. We’ve got the best medical care at the grounds and the players get that.
“As soon as he knew and the doctor saw when he went back on that he wasn’t travelling that well he was taken off and assessed again.
“He was taken to hospital unfortunately, but glad to hear he’s on the mend.”
That is patently inaccurate married up with the circumstances of the day and deeply troubling if that is the AFL’s official position.
It’s worth restating the prima facie case.
Petracca was in severe pain from the moment of impact on the quarter-time siren.
It took at least a couple of minutes before he was able to cross the field and get to the rooms.
After the seven-minute quarter-time break he sat out the first eight minutes of the second term.
From what was said by Simon Goodwin about pain management, it’s reasonable to assume Petracca was administered a pain killing injection in that time.
When Petracca returned he played for the next 21 and a half minutes unchanged.
The vision showed he was in excruciating pain and looked grey… so obviously unwell that opponents expressed their concern out on the field.
Collingwood captain Darcy Moore and midfielder Jack Crisp both asked Petracca whether he should be on the ground given what they were seeing up close.
The sequence of events offered multiple clues that Petracca’s injuries were serious and potentially dangerous.
The Melbourne medical staff did not remove him from the field as soon as it was realised he wasn’t traveling that well as Dillon stated today.
The exact opposite happened.
Despite clear signs of distress Petracca remained on the field for 21 and a half continuous minutes.
He then returned with the team after the half-time break to warm up before gesturing to rule himself out and coming to the bench before the siren to start the third quarter.
What didn’t happen was “as soon as the doctors saw when he went back on that he wasn’t travelling that well he was taken off and assessed again”.
Opponents and observers all feared things were wrong… no Melbourne official intervened as has been suggested.
We know Petracca was taken to Epworth Hospital during the last quarter and once the horrific internal injuries were revealed, he was transferred to the Alfred for surgery where he spent three nights in the ICU.
The comparison with Mason Cox’s ruptured spleen has been made.
Cox suffered a grade 1 rupture.
Petracca suffered a grade 5 rupture – the most severe on the scale.
Even while Petracca remained in the ICU it was suggested he was in good spirits and recovering well… all was fine.
I just don’t believe that to be the case.
Petracca remains in severe pain and knows the challenges ahead will last months not weeks.
He didn’t need the counsel of the club doctor to declare his season is over. He didn’t seek it, he knew it.
It feels as though neither Melbourne nor the AFL want to face fair and reasonable questions as to the assessments that were made and the treatment administered on the day.
Multiple red flags were ignored in real time that raise serious questions worthy of public debate and official oversight.
Petracca played a role in putting himself back out on the field.
But the diagnosis of the true nature of his injuries was missed.
Badly.
And the risks were immense.
I think the Collingwood players knew it too.
I suspect those close to Petracca understand how close this was to a disastrous outcome and are fully aware how challenging and delicate the coming weeks are.
This is an incident that should have those responsible questioning the processes and procedures, not waving them through.
I feel both Melbourne and the AFL should stand to account on what happened.