The injury toll at Collingwood has reached epidemic proportions after five more Magpies were added to an ever-lengthening casualty list that threatens to derail the club's premiership hopes.
The Magpies' medical room is now overflowing with the AFL's longest injury list, from which it's now possible to name a phantom starting 18.
In the fallout from a brutal loss to flag fancy Richmond at the MCG on Friday night, the wounded Pies have likely lost both their best player Jordan De Goey (hamstring) and promising youngster Isaac Quaynor (foot stress injury) for multiple weeks each, while star midfielder Taylor Adams (hamstring), full-back Jordan Roughead (concussion) and Tom Phillips (collarbone) are under clouds.
The carnage started pre-game when Adams withdrew with hamstring tightness, just six days after he'd returned from a 10-week adductor issue. Adams remains in the frame to take on bottom team Gold Coast at the MCG on Sunday, although the Pies might well take a conservative approach given his recent history.
Just when the wounded Magpies could ill afford to lose another key defender, Roughead suffered a bout of concussion after the ball was kicked into his head, followed by another friendly-fire knock in an aerial duel, forcing him to sit out the second half.
The ex-Bulldog, perhaps the best value recruit of the year, will need to pass a series of tests before being passed fit.
And it emerged on Sunday that De Goey has sustained a low-grade hamstring strain and Quaynor has experienced a foot stress reaction – injuries that will ground both for at least the next 10 days.
Exacerbating matters, wingman Phillips is also believed to be nursing a sore collarbone.
In contrast, the Tigers' premiership campaign is back on track apart from one key component – Trent Cotchin's hamstring.
Midway through the first quarter, the 2017 premiership captain suffered his third hamstring problem for the season and didn't return. The club believes it's only a minor issue but it remains a serious concern leading into the finals.