North Queensland Cowboys youngster, Mitchell Dunn, has suffered a suspected ACL injury in the team's win over the Canberra Raiders on Saturday night.
Horrible to see for Mitch Dunn - about as typical an ACL injury mechanism as you will see. Non-contact + direction change + clear shift of the tibia (lower leg) during step. Hoping for a miracle here but unfortunately have always seen that much shift end up an ACL tear pic.twitter.com/H0PyHbt4nm
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 19, 2022
The non-contact incident saw Dunn go down clutching his left knee just before the 30th minute of the game.
“That is not good he grabs at the left knee,” Greg Alexander said.
“Any time you see a player go down like that untouched you fear the worst.”
The club is still awaiting the results of the youngster's scans, however, if the worst is realised he will likely be on the sideline for the remainder of the 2022 season.
A Mackay product, Dunn has risen through the ranks of the Cowboys club since debuting for the first-grade team in 2018. Suffering several shoulder injuries in the earlier part of his career, the giant 25-year-old middle forward, who was a former half, solidified his position as spark player for the Cowboys off the bench over the last few seasons.
"It is really disappointing for the kid. He has had a wretched run with his shoulders so I really feel for him," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said in the post-match press conference.
"He is probably one of the more natural leaders we've got in our group, he has had a lot of life experiences at his young age and we are going to miss him."
Dunn had provided valuable minutes for the Cowboys to begin the season, starting at lock in their Round 1 matchup against the Bulldogs and coming off the bench in last night's clash against the Raiders.
