Coaches Michael Voss and Luke Beveridge have provided injury updates post-game on a trio of sore players after an enthralling Friday night battle at Marvel Stadium.
Carlton forward Zac Williams was subbed out of Friday's clash with the Western Bulldogs with Achilles soreness.
The forward flew for a mark on the wing in the second quarter and came from the field after a seemingly innocuous landing, assessed on the sidelines with a leg concern.
Shortly after, Carlton's substitute Jordan Boyd was activated, with Williams' game time in the match ending before half-time.
Williams was influential in the first quarter with a darting run off half-back that set up Carlton's opening goal, drilling a chest-height stab kick to Charlie Curnow, who kicked truly in his set shot.
Zac Williams has been subbed out of the game following this incident.#AFLBluesDogs pic.twitter.com/fzpq7gtfSA
โ AFL (@AFL) March 28, 2025
Voss said post-game it looked like a "very, very minor" calf concern.
We'll investigate it. But we think it's a very, very minor calf," Voss said.
"So I think we've got to investigate that one a little bit further, but nothing major."
Voss also confirmed that his substitution was fore precautionary reasons given Williams' extensive knee injury history.
Williams' history includes an Achilles tear in 2018, as well as a similar injury that interrupted his 2022 season. The 30-year-old ruptured his ACL in the 2023 pre-season too, but managed 19 games at the top flight last year.
"We thought we might put him back on, but that's the reason why he didn't go back on," Voss said.
Star Blue Patrick Cripps was also left grimacing in pain after a hard landing on his left coccyx in the third quarter.
Cripps remained behind play and was limping as medical staff attended to him, however continued to play following the incident.
The dual Brownlow medallist would eventually come from the ground and receive attention to the injured area, however, following a massage, he would return to the field and play out the remainder of the game.
Carlton coach Michael Voss said post-game he was unsure of the impact of the soreness but didn't believe it to be a major concern.
"The answer is, I don't know, other than I saw what you saw," Voss said.
"But he finished off the game. So other than being a bit sore, I think he's fine."
On the injury front for the Bulldogs, Oskar Baker limped from the ground after an attempted tackle on Oliver Hollands in the fourth quarter.
The 26-year-old appeared to sustain a quad injury and was quickly subbed out to inject Josh Dolan into the action.
However, Beveridge said it was a "superficial" injury substitute as Baker's concern is minor.
"He just got a cork. Those two pressure efforts on that boundary line when he got the cork, we had to sub him off after that, he was quite hampered," Beveridge said.
"Joshy Dolan came on and had his moments, it was fantastic for us, but he'll be okay.
"Well, I hope he will be, it's just something superficial I think."
The Bulldogs now sit inside the top eight with a 2-1 record following tonight's affair, while the Blues slump to a shock 0-3 start to the 2025 season.
