Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and midfielder Tom Liberatore have explained the latter's concerning mid-game collapse in the middle of Marvel Stadium, with Liberatore having since been placed in concussion protocols.
Liberatore stumbled and slowly fell to the ground several seconds after winning and disposing of the ball in a contest, where he was both knocked and then tackled in the process.
While Liberatore has not shown concussion symptoms 20 hours on from the game, the club has decided to take "an abundance of caution" and rule the midfielder out of next week's game by placing him in concussion protocols.
"Immediately following last night's fixture against Essendon, Tom Liberatore reported to the Bulldogs' medical team with no concussion symptoms and passed a head injury assessment, conducted as per AFL protocols," a club update read.
"Tom remains without concussion symptoms this morning. However, given the concerning nature of in-game footage during the final minutes that show Tom falling to the ground, the Club's medical team has subsequently reached a decision to place him in concussion protocols.
"This decision has been taken with an abundance of caution, with Tom's health and wellbeing the absolute priority."
The 31-year-old detailed post-game that he had "full recollection" of the event.
"Nah everything is good, I just sort of came up and lost balance with my ankle," Liberatore told ABC.
"I tweaked my ankle at the start of the last quarter, so when I got up I sort of fell back down. It's all good.
"All fine, no symptoms and full recollection of everything."
Beveridge was questioned on Liberatore's health post-game, with the Dogs mentor noting the midfielder had "lost his footing".
"He's fine. For some reason he lost his footing and stumbled, but he's fine," Beveridge said.
"He's being looked after and there's no concussion or anything like that. He's apparently fine."
The outcome of the Dogs' decision to place Liberatore in concussion protocols means the veteran will miss Thursday'sgae against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.