Dan Houston's season, and potentially Port Adelaide career, could be over following a huge hit on Izak Rankine in Saturday night's Showdown at Adelaide Oval.
Port claimed a 80-58 victory to keep themselves in the box seat for a top-four finish, but they will likely have to play out the rest of the campaign without the 27-year-old star.
With the Crows up by a goal midway through the third quarter, Rankine took possession but was blindsided by Houston coming the other way.
MORE: Follow the Coleman Medal race with daily updates | Every fixture and result for the 2024 AFL season | Every AFL team’s injury list and Supercoach implications
The Adelaide gun was stopped in his tracks and fell to the turf unconscious, sparking fiery scenes moments later as his teammates remonstrated with Houston over the hit.
Take a look at the incident below:
Izak Rankine was helped off the ground following this incident involving Dan Houston.#AFLPowerCrows pic.twitter.com/wIB9dx5yXD
— AFL (@AFL) August 17, 2024
Dan Houston suspension
Houston has been sent directly to the tribunal by the Match Review Officer.
The incident was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
This classification means he is set for a ban of at least four more matches, ruling the 27-year-old out for the majority of the upcoming finals series.
If a four-match suspension is finalised, he would need Port Adelaide to lose their qualifying final but go on to reach the grand final to play again.
A five-game ban would signal the end of Houston's campaign.
He will face the tribunal on Tuesday.
MORE: Petracca seen meeting with rival club captain
Rankine himself was suspended for four games for an off-the-ball bump which left Brisbane's Brandon Starcevich concussed in round 17.
In pre-season, Houston's teammate Sam Powell-Pepper was hit with a four-match suspension for a comparable bump on Adelaide's Mark Keane.
Similarly, Jimmy Webster was sidelined for seven matches for a wild hit on North Melbourne's Jy Simpkin, although that incident was far more reckless than Houston's on Saturday night.
Dan Houston trade rumours
Despite being contracted to Port Adelaide through to the end of 2027, Houston has been heavily linked with a return to his native Victoria at the end of the season.
The 2023 All Australian is reportedly courting interest from Melbourne, Hawthorn, Geelong and St Kilda.
Still just 27 and with 168 games under his belt, any club looking to acquire Houston would have to come to the trade tables with a strong hand.
Depending on the length of suspension and whether he does depart Port Adelaide, Saturday's Showdown could have been Houston's last game for the club.
