A THUMPING 112-point loss to Albury has been compounded by a potentially serious knee injury to Joel Harris, casting further doubt over Wangaratta’s chances of finishing in the top five.
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Harris will go in for scans today, but Magpie coach Brendan Cairns said he was expecting bad news.
“We’ll know a bit more after he’s had some treatment, but it didn’t sound good,” Cairns said.
“He said he heard a pop after he landed in a marking contest, so we’ll have to wait and see if he’s out for the season or if it’s a few weeks.
“It hurts us if he’s going to be out for a while, he’s a real focal point in our 50, and I thought he was good on a day where we didn’t get to see the ball forward all that often.”
It was a dark day for the Magpies, who will now have to come from a long way back to play finals football.
They were outclassed across the ground by the Tigers, who were again well served by the likes of Joel Mackie and Luke Packer, while Chris Hyde was near unstoppable.
Brayden O’Hara kicked a personal best eight goals, but it was several young players who provided some of the game’s highlights, with Kieran Ellis providing plenty of dash from half-back throughout the first half and Elliot Powell across half-forward.
The Dederang-Mt Beauty recruit kicked three goals in a performance that earned praise from Tigers co-coach Daniel Maher.
“Elliot made a name for himself in the Tallangatta league, and he certainly hasn’t put a foot wrong for us,” Maher said.
“He’s got some leg speed about him, he can play a variety of positions, half-forward and across the wing, and he’s one of the young players that we want to let go and play a natural game of footy.
“There aren’t any restrictions on any of our young players, we want them to run, we want them to carry the footy when there’s time and space in front of them.”
