PORT Adelaide coach Josh Carr has delivered a reassuring injury update on star midfielder Jason Horne-Francis following Saturday's 97-point loss to Sydney.
Midway through the final term, Horne-Francis changed direction in an innocuous-looking moment and immediately grabbed his left leg. He hobbled off the field flanked by team medical staff, playing no further part in his 100th AFL match.
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Preliminary testing indicated a suspected knee hyperextension, with scans planned to confirm the severity.
Speaking post-match, Carr eased fears over the midfielder's condition.
"'Hornet' (Horne-Francis) is OK. He's all right. He hyperextended the knee, and it obviously looked a lot worse on TV, so we all got a little bit worried about it, but he's looking OK. From all the testing, it looks fine," he said.
Horne-Francis underwent off-season surgery on a foot fracture that cut short his 2025 campaign.
The injury scare comes with the Power's squad already heavily depleted. With Zak Butters sidelined and Mitch Georgiades (illness) and Lachie Jones (groin tightness) late withdrawals, opportunities were handed to young players, including mid-season draftee Alex van Wyk and third-gamer Tom Anastasopoulos.
"For the rest of the group, there's not a lot to bring up from underneath. We should get a few back from injury – and obviously sickness – next week, three or four, so that helps," Carr added.
Meanwhile, for Sydney, Errol Gulden started the fourth quarter on the bench after taking a heavy hit from Darcy Byrne-Jones late in the third, which left him a little rattled. After passing his head injury assessment, however, he returned to the field.
Despite the heavy blow, Gulden went on to star, collecting 39 disposals, five clearances, 605 metres gained, and a goal.
"He's pulled up well," Sydney coach Dean Cox said.
"Obviously, when trying to contest the ball, that happens. His ability to be able to bounce straight back up, get the test done, do everything he needed to do, and come back out and play the way he did straight after that. That's one thing that he always does: he loves working as hard as he possibly can and playing his role for the team."
Heading into the clash with the Power, Cox made five forced and tactical swaps, missing star ruckman Brodie Grundy following the birth of his first child, along with injured duo James Rowbottom and Will Edwards, while Dane Rampe was managed.
Looking ahead, Cox confirmed he expects both Grundy and Rampe to be available for next week's clash with Essendon.
Asked how he plans to manage the squad over the final two rounds of the season, Cox explained that decisions are handled on an individual, week-to-week basis rather than through a broad resting plan.
"Those are the decisions we'll make each week," he said.
"There's no particular plan about what happens this week other than preparing our players to play as well as we can against Essendon. We won't change what we do in regard to the way we review and how we try and prepare our players. Dane was probably a decision (this week) because he played six games in a row at his age, and we just took that option."
Also for the Swans, midfielder Justin McInerney is in the frame to return in the next one to two weeks, targeting a return against the Bombers following a long hamstring layoff.
"Justin trained extremely well today; we expect him to do so this week," Cox said.
"We'll have those conversations in the early part of the week. We'll sit down as a group and discuss what the weekend looked like and what his training program looks like this week. But he's done everything that's been asked of him. He's trained hard for a long period of time and did a big session today."