Western Bulldogs star Tom Liberatore faces the bleak prospect of missing the entire AFL season after seriously injuring his left knee.
Liberatore limped from Whitten Oval on Saturday after his left leg buckled under the weight of Richmond's Tyrone Vickery in a tackle during the first quarter of their NAB Challenge encounter.
The 22-year-old took no further part in the game and coach Luke Beveridge later confirmed that club medical staff feared he had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament.
"He'll need a scan tomorrow but it doesn't look good at the moment," Beveridge said after the Dogs' won 0.12.17 (89) to 1.9.4 (67).
If, as expected, the worst case plays out, then Liberatore faces 10 to 12 months on the sidelines after surgery.
"If it is an ACL it's horrific, but he's tough, he's resilient and there's no doubt he'll come back from it," Beveridge said.
"He's such an important person and player around the club and he's one of our new leaders, so it's disappointing for him and everyone around because he's crucial to the fabric of our footy club.
"He'll play a role no matter what so we won't jump to the final conclusion, but we'll need to move on if it is."
The injury soured Beveridge's first match in the coaches box and presents him with a big problem as he tries to remould an onball brigade that lost Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen and Shaun Higgins at the end of last season.
Liberatore's situation aside, Beveridge was happy with how his players responded when they were headed by the Tigers early in the last quarter.
He described Tom Boyd's first match for the club as terrific and was pleased with the key forward's work rate inside 50 and in spells on the ball.
Richmond's Damien Hardwick took an inexperienced squad into the club's first NAB Challenge match. Up to half his best 22 - including Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance - didn't take part.
"The majority of the players that we played today probably won't be participating early in the season, so for them to get a sniff this early was really positive," Hardwick said.
"Obviously we had a pretty inexperienced side out there, and to see some of those players win some good contests and commit to some good bits of play - we were really pleased with what we got out of it.
"You can't buy that sort of experience for that younger squad."
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