Sydney Swans star Dane Rampe has been praised for an act against Richmond that went largely unnoticed at the MCG on Saturday.
Sydney stunned the reigning premiers and salt was rubbed into the wound when the Tigers lost Kamdyn McIntosh in the fourth quarter after he was concussed in a collision with Rampe.
Watch the collision in the video above
McIntosh was out cold but instead of playing on, Rampe stayed with his injured rival until help arrived in a move many believe represents the Swans’ strong culture.
The commentators mostly missed the act of sportsmanship but replays show Sydney captain Rampe immediately called for the doctors as McIntosh lay unconscious.
Rampe then embraced McIntosh as Richmond trainers had got the utility to his feet and helped him off the ground.
“Jeez it was brave, he knew Rampe was coming the other way,” Brisbane legend Jonathon Brown said on Fox Footy.
Co-commentator Garry Lyon added: “Nothing untoward from Rampe, he’s playing the football. Stretcher’s coming out, we hope he’s ok.”
Footy fans praised Rampe’s behaviour as “beautiful” and “all class” on social media.
Tigers licking their wounds
Richmond’s shock AFL defeat to Sydney has been compounded by fresh injury concerns, headlined by captain Trent Cotchin and star midfielder Dion Prestia.
The reigning premiers were blown off the MCG by the youthful Swans on Saturday, with coach Damien Hardwick admitting the 45-point margin flattered his team.
Prestia will miss a “number of weeks” after injuring his hamstring in the opening quarter and being subbed off for Daniel Rioli.
Triple premiership captain Cotchin was well below his best and finished the match with ice strapped to his hamstring and groin areas.
Hardwick claimed that move was precautionary but conceded Cotchin would be in some doubt to play against Port Adelaide on Friday night.
“(Cotchin’s) had injury history over the last number of years,” Hardwick said.
“We just iced him up and off he went so we’ll assess that during the week.
“(We’ve got) back-to-back six-day breaks so we’ll make a decision about whether he goes to Adelaide and figure it out from there.”
Hardworking McIntosh was also assisted off the ground in the last quarter after being dazed in a collision with Swans defender Dane Rampe.
“He’s lucky. It looked horrible, to be fair, and I’m glad he’s walking around at this stage,” Hardwick said.
The bad news just kept on coming, with Hardwick confirming star defender Nick Vlastuin will miss at least another month after undergoing another scan on his injured knee.
Vlastuin was subbed off in the Tigers’ round-one win against Carlton and has been absent since.
Hardwick was full of praise for the 3-0 Swans, less than a year after slamming their game style in a post-match press conference.
“We didn’t play our way but that’s because the opposition did things so well,” he said.
“They were incredible in all facets of the game, they just comprehensively beat us.
“The score flattered us and it felt like a 10-goal loss.
“I reckon we have one of them (a bad performance like that) a year but we look at everything as a gift.
“We’ll go to work. We get a better result, not necessarily next week or the week after, but it will come.”
– with AAP