Repeat of knee injury will cost Milera’s year
Adelaide defender Wayne Milera’s season is over after he ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee.
Milera (pictured) suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly in a marking contest in the third quarter of Friday’s loss to Fremantle in Perth.
Scans on Sunday confirmed the damage and the 26-year-old will have surgery in coming days. It is the same injury Milera suffered in his left knee which saw him miss the 2021 season.
“It’s obviously devastating for Wayne who has dealt with his fair share of unfortunate injuries in his career so far,” Crows high-performance manager Darren Burgess said. “The surgery will mean he will miss the rest of the season. “Unfortunately, he has been through this before so he knows the road ahead, but as we know with Wayne he is a very strong, positive person who will do everything to ensure he returns bigger and better next year.”
If numbers don’t lie, as the saying goes, then Melbourne should’ve lost Saturday night’s thriller against the Power at Adelaide Oval.
Ken Hinkley’s side came out on top in a bunch of key statistics, but the never-saydie Demons prevailed by seven points thanks to the sheer grit and determination that drew high praise from coach Simon Goodwin.
“If you look at the numbers, Port probably should’ve won the game,” Goodwin said.
“But we won the critical moments. That’s why I’m so proud of this footy team … they’re starting to really galvanise together, win critical moments, and when the game was there to be won we put on a performance that we’re really proud of.
“Full credit to Port, they played an enormous game, but our boys … they were special.”
Demons skipper Max Gawn, who starred against the Power, cheekily admitted he “hates” how much Goodwin has previously pointed to the expected score including in finals losses to Collingwood and Carlton last year. Alas, Melbourne was on the right end of the most important stat – the scoreboard.
“He loves the expected score Goody,” Gawn told Fox Footy post-match.
“To be honest I hate it. I hate it when he says it. When we’re sitting in the finals against Collingwood and Carlton and we’ve lost and Goody’s got expected score us winning by 30 points – I almost want to get up and punch him in the face!” the star ruckman quipped.
“The fact that it’s roles reversed tonight has actually brought a smile to my face.”
The Power went inside its attacking 50 a whopping 66 times to Melbourne’s 45, had 36 more possessions, 11 more tackles and three more scoring shots, but suffered its first loss of the season.
“To absorb (66) entries is a big number, but quite often our footy club is spoken about with a lack of efficiency and tonight was the reverse,” Goodwin said. “We took our chances, we executed in front of goal, and that was the big difference, our ability to be a bit more efficient, take our chances and kick accurately.”