Mayo Gaelic footballer Rachel Kearns could be sidelined for the rest of the AFLW season due to a shoulder injury sustained in Geelong Cats' opening game of the campaign.
Kearns, a two-time All-Star who also played soccer for Galway, had to go off in the first quarter of her team's win against Richmond following a heavy challenge from Beth Lynch.
"Rachel underwent surgical repair of her AC joint this morning," said head AFLW physio Erin Nelson.
"This will most likely be a season-ending injury."
It's a desperately unlucky blow for Kearns, who headed Down Under a year ago. She has continued to play for Mayo in the Australian Rules off-season, featuring for the Green and Red in this summer's championship.
Meanwhile Ailish Considine of the Adelaide Crows is out for the next two games with a hamstring strain.
"Ailish was doing some extra running after training and on her second effort, she pulled up sore," said Crows head of women's football Phil Harper.
"She’s been and had scans with the doctor and it’s shown a low-grade hamstring strain, so unfortunately, she'll be out for at least a couple of weeks."
