TWO GEELONG players have been sent to hospital for further scans after a bruising three-point semi-final loss to Sydney.

Ruck Piper Dunlop dropped suddenly following a head knock 10 seconds earlier in a distressing scene, and was awake and communicating when taken to hospital.

Tenacious Irishwoman Rachel Kearns has also been sent to hospital for scans on her hip, having attempted to battle through the sudden-death final despite a heavy collision.

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"I haven't seen it back. Piper's in hospital now just getting some further imaging done. I think she's okay, but we won't know more until we get the imaging results. She's in good hands, and we'll find out more shortly. She's being well looked after," Geelong coach Mick Stinear said in his post-match press conference.

"Rach has gone to hospital for imaging on her hip. She was in a lot of pain and really struggling, so we used her sparingly. She's doing okay, but was really impaired in her ability to play her role.

"AMac (Amy McDonald) was really upset, it's another hamstring injury (for her). She tried to come back on the field and help the team, but just wasn’t able to cover the ground. I thought Kate Kenny, to her credit, came in and played midfield and looked great, so we might have uncovered some more midfield depth there."

Dunlop fell suddenly into Swan Lexi Hamilton, a trained nurse and paramedic, who immediately switched modes and gently guided the tall Cat to the turf, immediately turning her into the recovery position and calling for help as play unfolded further afield.

"I've just watched that back, and to see someone drop like that on a footy field is really scary. To see Lexi's first reaction was 'How can I help someone?' was a credit to her and how she goes about it," a proud Sydney coach Colin O'Riordan said.

"It's a testament to the person Lexi is, that in the heat of battle, to still turn someone in the recovery position and make sure they're okay. Instinct kicked in for Lex, even though she was in the heat of battle, and that's really impressive."

Stinear said Geelong had moments of improvement on last week's qualifying loss to Melbourne, but still struggled under the heat of the moment.

"Last week, we didn't control the game that well. Whereas today, we got our hands on the ball on the inside, had a little bit more time on the outside. We probably just didn't take our moments at critical times. Their pressure was very good, we felt a little bit rushed," he said.

"I'm proud of the group, at the start of the last we really took it up to them and got after it. There was that moment where it was on our terms, and we were attacking and using the ball well, and then we fed into a little bit of their chaos as well, the game got jammed up and it was just a bit of a scrap and we ran out of time. Probably similar throughout the game, we weren't able to maintain possession just that little bit longer, or a shot at goal was a bit rushed, just that perceived pressure. 

"As a group, it's being better with our instruction, so we can make a better decision with the ball, and the individual being that little bit calmer to execute. Sydney created that environment as well, but as a team, that's an area of growth for us."

Stinear also confirmed that 35-year-old Kate Surman has hung up the boots, having been chaired off alongside previously announced retiree Jas Stewart.

O'Riordan implied his makeshift defence – which has come together in the absence injured talls Brenna Tarrant, Alice Mitchell and Ally Neyland – needed to be afforded greater respect, following a strong performance against a tall Geelong.

"We've coached the hell out of [scenarios] this year. I don't know how many hours of scenarios we've done this year, red time and green time, and the girls know exactly what they have to do, and the roles they have to play at that time," he said.

"The backline have held up all year. I read a few things during the week, and they weren't hurt by it, but they got a bit of motivation from what they heard, and I think that's fair. 

"They’ve held up for us all year, and they're really strong defensively one-on-one, so proud is an understatement for how I feel about the backline. They've done an incredible job. 

"Tanya Hetherington as backline coach and senior assistant has been incredible in the way she's gone about it, I don't have anything but pride."

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