3 minute read

Western Bulldogs star Isabel Huntington has been helped from the field with a knee injury in the round one AFLW loss to Melbourne.

Isabel Huntington could have suffered another serious knee injury in the Western Bulldogs' AFLW round-one loss to Melbourne.

One of the league's brightest young talents landed awkwardly in a simple marking contest on Saturday at Whitten Oval.

As Huntington clutched her right knee on the ground, she had a look of resignation as well as pain.

The 22-year-old has overcome a knee reconstruction on her left and right knee already and the Bulldogs are awaiting the results of scans, with confirmation expected on Sunday.

But coach Nathan Burke admitted post-match to fearing the worst.

The Bulldogs started poorly and Melbourne fended off their second-half challenge for a convincing 6.10 (46) to 3.4 (22) win.

"I haven't really sat down with the docs ... all I got during the game was 'Izzy was no good'," Burke said.

"Obviously your mind starts to wander to different things.

"Obviously she has a history of knee injuries and things like that, but we'll just have to wait and see and keep our fingers crossed."

Huntington won the 2020 Rising Star award and also made the All Australian team that year.

The key position player was the No.1 pick in the 2017 draft and is one of the AFLW's top young players.

She showed her talent in the second term with a crunching tackle on Karen Paxman.

Huntington won a free kick and kicked the Bulldogs' opening goal.

But only a couple of minutes later, she needed two trainers to help her from the field.

It was the worst of a bad bunch for the Bulldogs, who had several players unavailable and lost Sarah Hartwig as a late withdrawal under the league's health and safety rules.

The Demons belted them early with 3.0 to a behind in the opening term.

Captain Ellie Blackburn led a spirited third-term comeback, reducing the margin to nine points with her goal.

But it proved their last goal of the game, with star Melbourne recruit Tayla Harris steadying them with a banana goal a few minutes later.

"A terrible start - we just didn't play the type of football that we want to play," Burke said.

"The good thing was that we were able to change that."

Adding to the Bulldogs' personnel woes, Elizabeth Snell suffered a rib injury.

Demons coach Mick Stinear praised his team's electric start, but added the game became a grinding battle.

"It's probably not a bad spot to be in after round one, get the win on the board and still have plenty of room for improvement," he said.

Kate Hore kicked two goals for the Demons, while midfielder Eden Zanker was their best with 19 disposals and a goal.

Blackburn had a game-high 21 possessions and also laid seven tackles in a regulation starring performance from one of the league's marquee players.