Star Essendon forward Bonnie Toogood has been ruled out of the Bombers' AFLW finals campaign with a serious syndesmosis injury.
Toogood was in tears after injuring her ankle during the early stages of the Bombers' 36-point win over Carlton on Saturday night.
It continued a wretched run of luck this year for the 26-year-old, who also missed four matches after injuring her MCL in the opening round.
After the closing-round win over the Blues, Toogood pledged to leave no stone unturned in her bid to take on Fremantle in Sunday's elimination final.
But scans confirmed the injury was a syndesmosis, sidelining the co-captain for at least five weeks and ending any hope she could return to action in 2024.
Essendon's head of medical services Megan Smith said on Monday the club was devastated for Toogood.
"After an initial assessment, we decided it was best not to have Bonnie return to the field in order to give her the best chance to play should we make the finals," Smith said in a statement.
"However, scans yesterday confirmed she had suffered a high-grade two syndesmosis injury in her ankle.
"We will seek further advice from a surgeon. However, the recovery time for this type of injury is usually around five weeks, which means Bonnie will miss the remainder of our finals series."
Smith said Toogood would be determined to return fitter and stronger in 2025.
"While we are sad she won't be on the field for our finals campaign, we know her leadership will still be incredibly important to the side." she said.
Essendon now face an even bigger obstacle in their bid to win the club's first AFL or AFLW final since 2004.
That obstacle is the imposing Mim Strom.
Essendon haven't won a final since the men's team beat Melbourne by five points in an elimination final 20 years ago.
The men's team have lost seven finals since then, with the women's team losing to Geelong by 18 points in last year's elimination final.
Essendon's hopes of ending that streak suffered a huge blow a fortnight ago when star ruck Steph Wales tore her ACL.
Wales' absence was keenly felt against Carlton, with the Blues winning the hit-out tally a whopping 51-9.
Essendon ruck Matilda Dyke, filling in for Wales, finished with just six hitouts after being completely outpointed by Jessica Good (40 hitouts).
The task for Dyke is going to be even tougher this week when she comes up against in-form Fremantle ruck Strom, who is almost certain to be named in the All-Australian side this year.
Strom showcased her talent with 30 disposals, 29 hitouts, nine marks, seven clearances and 400m gained in Fremantle's 14-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.
Essendon were able to almost halve the stoppage battle against Carlton last weekend despite the lack of hitouts to advantage, and they'll be hoping to pull off a similar job against Fremantle.
Dockers coach Lisa Webb is hopeful star defender Ash Brazill (ankle) will be able to face Essendon.
"We've got to get through the next six days, but I'm confident," Webb said.
"I just tell her she has to put her feet up and not chase her kids around."
AFLW FINALS SCHEDULE
*First Qualifying Final - Friday at 7:15pm AEDT - North Melbourne v Adelaide Crows at Ikon Park
*First Elimination Final - Saturday at 7pm AEDT / 4pm AWST - Fremantle v Essendon at Fremantle Oval
*Second Qualifying Final - Sunday at 1:05pm AEDT - Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions at Ikon Park
*Second Elimination Final - Sunday at 3:05pm AEDT / 2:35pm ACDT - Port Adelaide v Richmond at Alberton Oval.
