Western Bulldogs rookie Aurora Smith with miss the remainder of the 2022 AFLW season after scans confirmed the teenager had sustained a significant knee injury.
After being named to make her debut last Sunday, Smith's dream start swiftly became a nightmare after the 18-year-old tore her ACL during the Dogs' fighting win over Adelaide at Norwood Oval.
Despite Smith's opening AFLW campaign coming to a close almost as soon as it began, the recent draftee will also go under the knife as quickly as possible, with the club confirming an appointment had been made for later this week.
The Victorian has now become the 11th player to have had their year ended with an ACL injury across the course of this summer.
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Speaking in the wake of the heartbreaking news, General Manager of Womenโs Footy, Debbie Lee, claimed she was left "devastated" by the reality of the situation.
โThe entire AFLW program is absolutely devastated for Aurora, particularly in her debut game,โ Lee toldย westernbulldogs.com.au.
โSince joining our program, she has done everything she can to ready herself for this moment, and we were really looking forward to seeing what she could do at AFLW level.
ย โWe know she has a long career ahead of her, so as a club we will wrap our arms around Aurora and her family, and provide them with all the support they need.โ
Although Smith's scans have taken some of the gloss off the Bulldogs' rousing win over the previously undefeated Crows, Nathan Burke's side will forge on and face Geelong at the Whitten Oval on Friday night.
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In other injury news, AFL Media's Sarah Black has reported that Brisbane spearhead Dakota Davidson's season is set for another interruption, with the 23-year-old ruled out of the Lions' next two matches as per the AFL's concussion protocols.
The premiership-winning forward sustained a head knock during her side's narrow win over the Saints, and as the league's laws stipulate a mandatory 12 day recovery period, the Queenslander will miss Brisbane's upcoming battles with Gold Coast and Melbourne.
The impending layoff from action will, no doubt, be frustrating for Davidson, given the University of Queensland product had already missed Brisbane's Round 3 contest with Carlton due to a foot complaint.
