West Coast hardman Beau Waters is the fourth AFL player whose finals series looks finished barely after it started.
Waters landed awkwardly in the second quarter and trainers had to chair him from the field because of a mystery foot injury.
The defender was named in the All-Australian squad and is one of the Eagles’ most important players.
He joins Hawthorn forward Brendan Whitecross, Sydney onballer Ben McGlynn and Adelaide defender Daniel Talia as players who suffered serious injuries in this weekend’s opening games of the finals series.
Whitecross will be out of action until well into next season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament early in Friday night’s qualifying final win over Collingwood.
The Hawks announced on Saturday that Whitecross will undergo a traditional reconstruction, meaning he will not return for at least six months.
The Swans are more optimistic about McGlynn, who was in tears on the bench after he went down with a hamstring injury during Saturday’s qualifying final win over the Crows.
Sydney are hopeful, describing the injury as a minor strain and saying McGlynn will be sidelined for two to three weeks.
“The scans showed Ben had only a little inflammation inside the muscle, which is a positive sign,” said club doctor Nathan Gibbs.
“We will work with Ben and hope to get him up and running again this season.”
But Talia had no such good news after he broke his right forearm against the Swans.
It happened just four days after the 20-year-old key defender won the Rising Star award.
Adelaide announced on Sunday that he will undergo corrective surgery on Monday, ending his season.
Dockers captain Matthew Pavlich suffered more achilles tendon trouble as he starred with six goals in the elimination final win over Geelong.
But he is not expected to be in doubt for next Friday night’s semi-final against Adelaide.
The week off is a handy boost for the Hawks, who were without Clinton Young and Jordan Lewis last Friday night through injury.
Xavier Ellis also hobbled off during the match and will undoubtedly benefit from not having to play next weekend.
