Hawthorn premiership captain Luke Hodge will undergo scans after suffering a suspected broken arm in his side’s Easter Monday loss to Geelong.

In a dramatic end to the MCG encounter, Mitch Duncan was reported after he collided with the Hawks skipper in the last quarter.

Hodge left the field in obvious pain and was later seen applying ice to his right forearm, and likely faces a stint on the sidelines.

“I would suggest it doesn’t look too good because he’s a pretty fierce warrior and he doesn’t usually come off the ground,” coach Alastair Clarkson said.

“He was icing up after the game and is pretty sore so we’ll just wait and see, but he is probably likely to miss a bit of footy, I reckon.”

Cats coach Chris Scott leapt to the defence of his player after the match.

“I’ll preface what I’m about to say by saying that we haven’t looked at it exhaustively, but we’ve got no concerns over that – no concerns at all,” he said.

“In fact, if you asked Hodgey I think he would say that he should have no concerns, either.

“If that’s reportable, Luke Hodge would have been reported 50 times in his career.”

The enthralling contest was a fitting end to an outstanding opening weekend of AFL football, when faster ball movement and higher scores were the new norm.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson described it as an exiting new frontier of footy after his side’s 64-point mauling of Brisbane.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley echoed those sentiments after his side’s win over St Kilda at Adelaide Oval.

“I think what’s happened is (coaches) have gone, ‘You know what? If we don’t go fast on offence, their defence is going to smother us’,” Hinkley told SEN.

“So I think we’re actually getting a bit braver … and we’re just really attacking and moving it forward quickly.”

Collingwood were the big losers of round one after Sydney handed them an 80-point thrashing at the SCG, which was compounded by the losses of Dane Swan and Steele Sidebottom.

Swan is undergoing assessment on a serious leg-foot injury that could prove career-threatening, and Sidebottom was handed a two-match suspension by the match review panel for his high hit on Swans star Dan Hannebery.

The Western Bulldogs sit atop the premiership ladder heading into round two after they dismantled Fremantle by 65 points.

Melbourne youngster Clayton Oliver received the first rising star nomination of the season for his 22-possession effort in the Demons’ win over GWS.