Adelaide defender Wayne Milera will miss the remainder of the 2024 season after scans confirmed the injury-riddled Crow had ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee.
Milera was replaced by tactical sub Murphy during the third term of Adelaide's loss to Fremantle after landing awkwardly in a marking contest before rising to his feet to hobble off the field in the hands of trainers.
This latest setback is the second patella tendon injury of Milera's career after the former first-round draftee suffered the same fate in 2021.
The Crows confirmed the worst possible result on Sunday afternoon, stating that the rebounder had been forced back to the sidelines.
“It's obviously devastating for Wayne who has dealt with his fair share of unfortunate injuries in his career so far,” Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess told Crows Media.
“The surgery will mean he will miss the rest of the season while focusing on his rehabilitation.
“Unfortunately, he has been through this before so he knows the road ahead, but as we know with Wayne he is a very strong, positive person who will do everything to ensure he returns bigger and better next year.”
The setback concerns follow a luckless injury run for the rebounding Crows defender, who played just two games in 2020 due to a stress fracture in his foot before rupturing his patella tendon ahead of the following campaign to sit out the entire season.
Milera, who also dealt with hamstring issues over the course of the recent summer, now looks set for another period on the sidelines in the wake of his latest knee injury.
His replacement, Lachie Murphy, also ended the Good Friday clash on the interchange following a knee knock late into proceedings.
The injury kept the Crows half-forward to just 25 per cent time on ground for the evening, with Murphy set to join Milera in requiring scans over the coming days.
"They're both going to have scans," coach Matthew Nicks initially said following the defeat. "It's a fingers-crossed scenario there.
"Wayne's (injury) looked a little worse than what Murph's did. We just hope for the individual that it's nothing major, but we'll have to have a scan on it.
"I haven't sat down with our medical guys yet to get to the bottom of it."
The pair of setbacks add to the Crows' injury woes, with key defender Jordon Butts sidelined this week after rolling his ankle in Round 2.
Adelaide are already without Rory Sloane (eye), Riley Thilthorpe (knee), Nick Murray (knee) and Harry Schoenberg (Achilles) for the coming rounds.
The Crows will take some positives from their reserves' come-from-behind win over South Adelaide in the SANFL earlier on Friday, with young pair Billy Dowling and Luke Nankervis impressing, while rookie Dan Curtin recorded 18 disposals and ten marks in his debut.
Fellow first-year Crow Charlie Edwards booted a goal from his 18 touches as Adelaide posted a five-point win after taking their first lead against the Panthers in the final term, initially trailing by 26 points at the main break.