Collingwood forward Brent Macaffer is in doubt for the remainder of the AFL season after suffering a suspected torn anterior cruciate ligament in the opening round of the NAB Cup on Saturday night.
Macaffer, who managed just four appearances in 2011 due to a broken foot, had to be carried from the ground midway through the first half of the Pies' narrow victory over the Western Bulldogs at Blacktown International Sportspark.
Coach Nathan Buckley broke the bad news after his side completed a clean sweep of the opening round with a three-point win over a gallant GWS in the final game of the triple header.
"Unfortunately Brent Macaffer's more than likely done his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Which is a poor result for us," Buckley said after his first games at the helm of the Magpies.
"You talk about winning and losing, but the major thing you want out of games like this is to just get everyone through without an injury."
"It's not looking good for Caff (Macaffer) but we'll see what the scans say in the next couple of days."
Buckley expressed sympathy for the injury-plagued 23-year-old.
"He really struggled with injury last year. Some people seem to get more obstacles than they deserve," the coach said.
"He's had a fantastic pre-season, he's put himself in decent nick ... it's really unfortunate for him. We hope for the best but we expect the worst."
Meanwhile, Buckley was pleased with his side's winning start to the pre-season competition in his first official AFL fixture since taking over from Mick Malthouse.
"It was encouraging," Buckley said.
"Obviously to get the wins was a major aim. We came here with a really young squad and asked young players to play specific roles and I thought for the most part they were able to do that."
"We expect to win every game we play. Perhaps some people would look at the squad and say, 'perhaps that's not the way you've selected the team'."
"But ultimately we just needed those players to get some experience playing their roles and I thought they did it pretty well."
"We performed okay."
Meanwhile, Buckley praised the efforts of the GWS Giants after the fledgling club almost pulled off an upset in the final game of the night against Collingwood.
"It was a one-on-one contested brand of football all over the ground, and if you can play that brand of footy - well then you can compete against anyone," he said when asked of the Giants' chances this season.
"They were able to do that tonight so there's no reason why they can't compete well and compete hard, and win their fair share of games."
"They're a very young list ... what you saw was great enthusiasm and exuberance from a young group of players."