Rachel Kearns set to miss AFLW campaign with shoulder injury

The Mayo woman played every game in her debut season earlier this year

GEELONG, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 28: Rachel Kearns of the Cats reacts to an injury during the round one AFLW match between the Geelong Cats and the Richmond Tigers at GMHBA Stadium on August 28, 2022 in Geelong, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Rachel Kearns is set to miss the remainder of the AFLW season after injuring her shoulder during Geelong's season-opening win over Richmond.

The Mayo woman was forced from the field in significant pain in the 10th minute of the first quarter following a heavy tackle from Richmond's Beth Lynch. 

"Rachel underwent surgical repair of her AC Joint this morning," said Geelong’s Head AFLW Physiotherapist Erin Nelson.

"This will most likely be a season ending injury."

Lynch was in the spotlight for her tackle on Geelong’s Rachel Kearns but escaped sanctions from the Match Review Officer who deemed it to be a legal tackle.

It's a tough blow for Kearns, who played every game in her debut season earlier this year and earned respect for her speed and ferocious tackling.

Two-time Adelaide Crows AFLW Premiership winger Ailish Considine will miss at least the next two games after injuring her hamstring at training on Monday.

Considine sustained the injury while participating in extra running and scans then confirmed a low-grade hamstring strain.

“Ailish was doing some extra running after training and on her second effort, she pulled up sore,” said Crows Head of Women’s Football Phil Harper.

“She’s been and had scans with the doctor and it’s shown a low-grade hamstring strain, so unfortunately, she'll be out for at least a couple of weeks."

Considine was Adelaide’s first international recruit and was drafted ahead of the 2019 season. The 30-year-old has played 26 games over the past four seasons, including Adelaide’s Season Three and Season Six Premierships.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, Sinead Goldrick is expected to be cleared for team selection within the next fortnight.

“Unfortunately, last Tuesday Sinead Goldrick injured her knee at training, but thankfully it was just a grade one medial injury”, said Demons head coach Mick Stinear.

“We expect Sinead potentially to be cleared to play ahead of round three, if not round four.” Elsewhere, Hawthorn are set to welcome back Aine McDonagh to full training, according to Hawks AFLW Head Physiotherapist Alex McVeigh.

The Galway woman was ruled out of last week’s season-opening defeat to Essendon due to a ribs injury sustained in training.