The Hille situation......

[The Don]

I reall felt for the Big Bloke today. I heard the commentators say they felt for him in what could be a season ending injury. Was it a knee??

Who is likely to fill his spot in the short to medium term. Can Ryder do it? Is Bellchambers ready? Are our Ruck stocks in poor health such that we might need to resurrect the career of the Biggest Dud since Somerville - Delist candidate Jason Laycock??

[swoodley]

late in the commentary they said that Hille had been sent home and that the Essendon medical staff think it's his ACl....if so, that's him gone for the year.

Laycock is still injured and so apart from Bellchambers, the only other available ruckman on the list is Bock who is on the rookie list and a real stringbean.

[The Fly]

They way he grabbed at the back of his knee it doesn't look good. It's either a PCL or an ACL. Hope its the former but odds are that its the latter. You don't see too many PCL's these days.

Paddy was unbelievable today in Hille's absence. Just amazing. He is nothing less than a sublime athlete.

[Mrs Mercuri]

Massive blow for the club to lose Hille. This injury is going to really test our ruck strength. You would think that TB will have to be included in the side now. Once Daniher and Hurley come back as well it will allow Ryder to continue the role he played today.

[F111]

Rama said on 774 that it was likely an ACL. PCL's are commonly done from a displacement from the front of the knee, eg in a ruck contest.

It happened because the kick to him was crap. 20 metres away and he had to jump high and stretch and land...poor kick/skills, under no pressure unfortunately.

I guess it was a knee waiting to happen?

[andrewb]

Paddy was fantastic today but if this is season ending it's pretty much the end of any chance we had to make finals this year.

Hopefully they can work out what's wrong with Laycock and get the bugger back up and running asap.

[Megan]

The club never ever stated he had done his ACL... the commentators decided that. That pissed me off.

Even if it DOES look like he has - which it does - the fact that they decided this without any official decision and passed it on to anyone who caught the end of the game, not the whole game as fact...

I can't help but think of Gary Lyons bitching after he did his knee, compared to Hille walking off the ground himself. Lyon - pussy. Hille - man.

I hope it isn't an ACL... but as soon as he grabbed for the bac/side of his knee I thought 'oh oh'.

Ryder can't be expected to ruck every week like he did today, esp. not against some of the better ruckmen. I think the best we can hope for - if Hille is out - is that Bellchambers and Ryder can battle through and keep up appearances.

[tom9779]

Paddy was fantastic today but if this is season ending it's pretty much the end of any chance we had to make finals this year.

Hopefully they can work out what's wrong with Laycock and get the bugger back up and running asap.

... if anything today showed just how good our young kids are. I rate the collingwood midfield group, and we did really well today.

we won without signigicant impact from lloyd, lucas, hille. hille so far this year really has not been himself.

i think the goal is more realistic than ever(of making finals). we have brisbane next week(playing without a recognised ruckman), which is turning into a real blessing.

Hille was our best player last year, closely followed by Scott Lucas. but that was last year.

today was a great win. collingwood are a genuinely good side and i thought if we had of kicked straight, we would have buried them, not snatched the game in the dying seconds.