Distressing moment Port Adelaide stars Zak Butters and Tom Jonas suffer NASTY head clash during defeat by Richmond – but Power cop a lashing after sending the pair back on just EIGHT MINUTES later
- Tom Jonas and Zak Butters suffered sickening clash in the fourth quarter
- Port Adelaide duo left the field bleeding profusely after major collision
- They returned to action less than 10 minutes later without undergoing HIA
- Richmond beat Port 77-65 in bruising encounter to climb back into the top-eight
- Power remained 13th on the ladder with a 5-7 record for the season
Port Adelaide stars Tom Jonas and Zak Butters suffered a sickening head collision in the Power’s 77-65 defeat against Richmond on Thursday night.
With the Tigers leading by two points halfway through the final quarter at the MCG, Jonas and Butters swarmed around Richmond halfback Liam Baker, who looked set to be wrapped by the Port duo.
Baker, however, managed to avoid the tackle by rapidly changing direction, which resulting in Jonas smashing head-first into Butters.
Port Adelaide stars Tom Jonas and Zak Butters suffered a sickening head collision on Thursday
The duo were immediately attended to by Port’s medical staff and left the field with Butters bleeding profusely from just above his nose and Jonas sporting a notable gash just above his eyebrow.
Surprisingly, however, both players rejoined the actions less than 10 minutes later without undergoing a head injury assessment.
‘To me the vision [of the impact] looked like it’d be enough for them to need a concussion test, but clearly not,’ former Adelaide star Josh Jenkins said on Fox Footy.
The Power duo looked set to tackle Richmond Liam Baker (middle), who managed to escape
The collision left Butters visibly dazed and bleeding profusely from just above his nose
Despite the sickening clash, both Butters and Jonas rejoined the action after a few minutes
Butters sported a make-shift bandage as he returned to the field after the brutal hit
To compound matters for the Power, Richmond scored on the resulting move with Baker exchanging handballs with Shai Bolton before kicking towards the square where Dustin Martin and Riley Bonner jockeyed for position.
While the latter slipped, the Tigers gun managed to retain his footing, before slotting the 300th goal of his AFL career as Richmond extended their lead to eight points.
The Tigers never relinquished the lead to seal a fifth win in the last six games and climb back into the top-eight, while Port Adelaide remained 13th with a 5-7 record for the season.