SAM DARCY has miraculously avoided a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament after hyperextending his knee in the Easter Sunday night win over St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.

The 21-year-old was cleared of the devastating season-ending injury by a scan on Monday morning.

Darcy is understood to still require knee surgery, but his 2025 campaign is remarkably still alive.

The Western Bulldogs were bracing for the worst after Darcy was helped off the ground in the first quarter of the 71-point win on Sunday night.

Darcy is still expected to miss a few months with a knee fracture, but should return for the closing two months of the season. His exact timeline will become clearer post surgery.

The 208cm forward-ruck was one of the most damaging players across the first five rounds, kicking 14.7 while averaging 8.2 marks to dominate games.

Luke Beveridge's side levelled the ledger at 3-3 and now have a fit and firing Marcus Bontempelli back in the line-up.

The skipper collected 30 disposals and kicked two goals on return to dazzle in his first game of the season.

The Bulldogs will still need to tinker with their forward setup this side of the bye, but they have options in Rory Lobb, James O'Donnell and Buku Khamis.

Father-son recruit Jordan Croft is yet to make his debut after being selected at pick No.15 in 2023, but the 200cm tall utility should get a chance in the coming months, while Jedd Busslinger – another former first-round pick – is yet to experience AFL but could be used in defence to allow one of the above trio to play forward.