PORT Adelaide key defender Esava Ratugolea has been taken to hospital with a suspected ruptured patella tendon after suffering the nasty season-ending injury in Saturday night's loss to Collingwood at the MCG. 

Ratugolea was carried off the ground on a stretcher late in the third quarter after injuring his knee in a marking contest that brought the game to a standstill for a handful of minutes.

MAGPIES v POWER Full match coverage and stats

The Power were already without Jack Lukosius at that stage due to a calf injury and lost Ewan Mackinlay to a knee sprain in the same play. 

The Power had led by as much as 19 points midway through the second quarter when they kicked five unanswered goals, but didn't manage a goal after half-time in the 26-point loss.

Power coach Josh Carr said the club expects Ratugolea to undergo knee surgery overnight and be sidelined for up to 12 months in a devasting blow.

"It's a patella tendon and it looks like it's ruptured," Carr said after the match.

"He's gone in to emergency now and will most likely get an operation tonight, so that's a long-term injury.

"It's probably most likely 12 months I think. He's in pretty good form and marking the footy, so obviously disappointing and flattening for him and his family and us as a footy club."

Ratugolea had 10 intercepts at that point, which was still the most on the night, along with six intercept marks, forcing Collingwood to make changes at half-time after the former Cat and Aliir Aliir dominated the first half. 

Mackinlay is expected to miss up to two months with a suspected medial collateral ligament strain, while Lukosius was starring in his first game since round five before exiting the game.

"We're unsure with that one, whether it's a calf or maybe a Baker's cyst in there. We've just got to obviously have a look at it. 

"He was playing really well in the first game back on the wing and using the footy well; he was one that could get some deep entries. Look he's worked his way back and got into the team. Hopefully it's not anything too serious."

Collingwood coach Craig McRae conceded Saturday night's match was essentially make or break after almost a month without a win. The Magpies have climbed back into the wildcard spots with a sixth win, but are unlikely to still be in 10th by the end of round 15.

"I think we come here tonight wanting to get our season moving a bit," McRae said.

"Time is running out; there is plenty of time left, but you know what I mean. You can't just keep turning up and playing well and not winning games, you've got to win. If I'm being honest, I think we've played a lot better this year and haven't won games. You've just got to get things moving."

McRae praised Jordan De Goey after the 30-year-old produced his highest-rated game since the 2023 Grand Final win over Brisbane to maintain his run of form dating back to Anzac Day. 

"He's had a good month, hasn't he? Might be more than that," he said.

"We started him forward a bit tonight because he'd been sick over the bye and you know he couldn't train much for a week-and-a-half, so we were a bit wary of that. He's just seeing it well and playing to his strengths. He's important for us when we're pushing forward without Jamie [Elliott]. We're just trying to find ways to connect, and him and Nick did that really well for us."

Scott Pendlebury was managed out of the bye to extend his rest between games since King's Birthday, but McRae revealed the veteran had been sick over the week off, which was the main reason he didn't play. 

"I did consider that [extra break for] Steele [Sidebottom] and Pendles having some thoughts around that. He got quite sick. He's been quite sick for probably about 10 to 14 days too. It's just that time of year, especially when you've got kids," he said. 

"He came good late, like he was a chance to play, we were contemplating whether to bring him in late. Thankfully we won. There would have been a bit of judgment on that, wouldn't there?"

McRae finished his press conference by responding to a question around where the list is currently at and the daily discourse around Collingwood's trade and free agency targets. 

"It's probably over examined. You know, I don't recall any other list in the competition being examined as much as ours and judged. But again, we get clicks, so it creates opinions," he said.

"It's an interesting narrative around where we're at. We're working towards being the best version of us. I don't look at the age demographic of our team tonight, but there's a lot of different players that haven't played together. Chemistry is important; it's hard to describe it, but there's a lot of talk about it, isn't there?"

Collingwood faces Richmond at the MCG next Saturday ahead of the annual winter trip to the Gold Coast, before North Melbourne and Carlton in a crucial month if the club is going to feature in September.