Western Bulldogs star Tom Liberatore is in doubt for next Thursday's match against St Kilda after collapsing on the turf during the defeat to Essendon on Friday night.
The incident, with a cause that is yet to be determined, occurred during the last quarter of the Bulldogs' 29-point loss to the Bombers at Marvel Stadium.
With scrutiny of Liberatore's collapse likely to continue, The Sporting News has all the latest on the incident.
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WATCH: Tom Liberatore collapses on the field
Shortly after appearing to be clipped in the head with body contact, Liberatore stumbled and collapsed in the Marvel Stadium centre square during play.
Liberatore's opponent Darcy Parish showed enough concern to race over to aid the Bulldog player to his feet, while raising his hand to alert medical staff on the boundary.
The Bulldog midfielder got to his feet and continued to play the match out, with no medical attention or concussion test performed until after the match, which Liberatore reportedly passed.
The incident near the end of the game when Tom Liberatore collapsed in the centre of the ground... pic.twitter.com/XlG7EhtoE5
— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 12, 2024
What Liberatore and Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said about the collapse
Liberatore speaking to ABC Radio post-match: "Nah everything is good, I just sort of came up and lost balance with my ankle.
"I tweaked my ankle at the start of the last quarter, so when I got up I sort of fell back down. It's all good.
"All fine, no symptoms and full recollection of everything."
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge had the same version of events in his post-match press conference: "He's fine. For some reason he lost his footing and stumbled, but he's fine.
"He's being looked after and there's no concussion or anything like that. He's apparently fine."
Did Liberatore suffer a concussion?
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Reports from various media outlets on Saturday morning suggested the Bulldogs would launch their own investigation into why Liberatore collapsed, however there is still no official comment from the club.
Despite there being no concussion diagnosis as of yet, the nature of the collapse would make it seem unlikely that Liberatore will be available to play St Kilda next Thursday night - six days after the incident.
If Liberatore enters the AFL concussion protocols, he won't be available to play an AFL game for at least 12 days before being eligible for medical clearance back to the match action.
