MELBOURNE will be without its leading goalkicker Eden Zanker for next week's semi-final, with the spearhead entering concussion protocols following its qualifying final loss to Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
Zanker came from the field in the first quarter after a collision with Brisbane ruck Eleanor Hartill, with doctors checking her teeth and jaw, before taking her to the rooms for a SCAT test.
DEMONS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
She returned to the bench, and was deemed to have passed the assessment, running back out onto the field soon after. But she came back to the bench and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, with the club stating a level of caution as the reasoning.
Post-match, however, head coach Mick Stinear confirmed she was in concussion protocols, ruling her out for at least 12 days.
"(Eden) is in concussion protocols, was ruled out of the game, so yeah, she'll enter that protocol now. Seems to be doing OK, which is the No.1 thing, but yeah, disappointing to lose a key member for the team for a large part of the game. But the aim will be to get to work as a team, and hopefully give her an opportunity to play again this season," Stinear said.
Important defender Blaithin Mackin was also icing a sore ankle following the match, but is expected to be available for next week's clash with either Adelaide or St Kilda, while All-Australian squad member Maeve Chaplin is unlikely for the semi-final following a hamstring injury late in the week.
"She was jogging this morning and moving a lot quicker than we thought she would. So, I would say doubtful for this week, but she'll be doing everything she can," Stinear said of Chaplin.
After a strong opening quarter, where the Demons kicked two goals while keeping Brisbane to just one behind, things fell in the latter's favour, and it was largely through the mental game that Stinear believes his side dropped its consistency.
"I think just mentally staying sharp, they bring a lot of heat around the ball, they're a good contested team, so it's at times when you're fatigued you can collapse in around the footy and you have too many numbers there, and they start to make you pay on the outside… I feel like for us, it's just that mentally staying in the game, and then matching that with the physicality and doing that consistently," Stinear said.
Although victorious, Brisbane will be sweating on the fitness of key defender Jen Dunne, who injured her right knee in the first half, and despite returning to the field, didn't look comfortable.
"(We're) a little bit worried, we'll have to get that assessed and see what it looks like, but yeah got sort of caught up in the tackle and I don't know, I haven't had a long conversation yet with the physios as to what it is, but it was good enough to get back out there," Lions coach Craig Starcevich said.
"They were happy, structurally, that it was fine, but there'll be some lingering soreness for sure."
Fortunately for the Lions, the win has earned them the week off, and a home preliminary final in a fortnight. It will also help them shake off an illness that has swept through the camp in the last few days.
"We did a little bit, but you know, just stock standard stuff that a couple bounced back from really quickly, and one lingered a little bit later in the week than we would have liked. But just your standard end-of-year flu type stuff," Starcevich said.
