Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy is reportedly set to avoid surgery on his injured knee, despite initial thoughts believing he was expected to go under the knife.
Darcy hyper-extended his left leg during Sunday's win against St Kilda, and fears crept into the Bulldogs camp that he'd torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), ruling him out for 12 months.
However, scans on Monday revealed that he sustained an impaction fracture on his left knee, as well as some ligament damage.
"In the first quarter of the game, Sam was involved in a marking contest and landed awkwardly," Head of Sports Medicine Chris Bell said.
"On landing, his knee jammed back into hyperextension. This mechanism has pinched the bones at the front of his knee joint together, while also overstretching the ligaments and soft tissue at the back of his knee.
"We are currently working through opinions and options on how to best manage Sam, and will update his return-to-play timeline in the coming days."
However, in more positive news regarding Darcy's injury, Channel 7's Mitch Cleary believes the key forward can avoid surgery all together, providing hope he could return to play in 2025.
"My understanding is that the superstar forward has avoided surgery," Cleary said.
"He went to bed on Sunday thinking he ruptured his ACL. Scans on Monday instead showing a knee fracture that would require surgery.
With surgery, Sam Darcyโs initial timeline was looking like August/September.
But now without going under the knife, thereโs hope that he may be back playing by June/July. https://t.co/USVu8L0Cpx
โ Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) April 24, 2025
"Now, after meeting experts in recent days, he's expected to avoid going under the knife, giving great optimism to a home and away season return."
According to Cleary, Darcy could return in the June/July months, pending everything going his way.
Elsewhere at the Whitten Oval, CEO Ameet Bains has addressed rumours circulating around Marcus Bontempelli's future, with reports from the West Australian indicating West Coast and Collingwood's interest in luring him out of the Bulldogs.
Bains, speaking on SEN, attempted to quash those rumours, saying Bontempelli was focused on returning from injury before engaging in contract talks during the season, a tact he has taken in previous negotiations.
"Marcus has consistently taken his time with his contracts, and in more recent weeks, his focus has clearly been on his rehab and returning to play along with opening his cafe in Kew โ Arthur's Milkbar,โ Bains told SEN Breakfast.
"But now that both of those things were achieved on the weekend, we're very hopeful of progressing things along, and I know Sam Power and Tom Petroro have been in constant discussion.
โSo, we have absolutely zero concerns about him signing at the club, but we're hopeful now that things might progress. I think there are a number of things that Marcus was looking at, but I don't think any of them gave us or gives us any concern that he's not going to remain."
