Sport
26 April, 2026
Horror run of injuries
“INJURIES are killing us.” That was the simple message from Boort coach Andrew Rutley after a 65-point loss to Sea Lake Nandaly on Saturday.
“INJURIES are killing us.” That was the simple message from Boort coach Andrew Rutley after a 65-point loss to Sea Lake Nandaly on Saturday.
And with a horror run of fixtures to match the horror run of injuries, the Magpies are desperate for things to turn around.
After losing three players before half-time in round one against Donald to injury, two more were out within 10 minutes of the game starting against the Tigers.
Chris Hatcher, elevated from the reserves, suffered a soft tissue problem during the warm up, and ruckman Connor Dalgleish left the field with back spasms early in the first quarter.
Worryingly, he was rushed to hospital on Sunday after a recurrence of the issue.
“Sea Lake are pretty well drilled, they’ve been together for a long time and they move the ball really well – they had us chasing from the start,” Rutley said.
The Tigers kicked eight goals in the first quarter to lead by 31 points and stretched that to 67 points at the final change before Boort shaded the last quarter by two points.
“We looked good in patches but just didn’t use the ball well in the first quarter,” Rutley said.
“After half-time we played quite well, I thought – we used the corridor a lot more and we were definitely more efficient in hitting up our forwards.”
In the last quarter injuries restricted the Magpies to just one on the bench, with a host of other players cramping – an issue that Rutley said the club would investigate.
The coach’s son, Kayne, kicked four goals for Boort and Carlos Egan three, with both mixing midfield and forward roles – Rutley even spent time as a running half-back.
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