Richmond vice-captain Harriet Cordner has become the latest AFLW player to be ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured ACL.
Cordner injured her right knee in the second quarter of Saturday's 30-point loss to Fremantle at the Swinburne Centre.
The 37-game star will undergo a full knee reconstruction as part of her rehabilitation.
Cordner has been a revelation since crossing to Richmond from Melbourne before the 2021 season, being named in the 40-person AFLW All Australian squad last year.
The 2022 AFLW season has been plagued by knee injuries.
In round one alone, Bulldogs star Isabel Huntington, Brisbane's three-time All-Australian defender Kate Lutkins, and Collingwood co-captain Brianna Davey all suffered ACL injuries.
"Not quite what I had planned this week. Absolutely devastated to have torn my ACL and not to be taking the field again this season, but I'm bloody proud of this group and where we are heading," Cordner posted on social media.
"Can't wait to watch them fight like Tigers in the coming weeks.
"Thank you to everyone who has reached out, and to all the legends I have around me."
Richmond's head of women's football Kate Sheahan said the injury to Cordner was a bitter blow.
"Harriet has been exceptional since the day she walked into our football club, both as a pillar in our on-field defence and as a person to have around the place, so we are really feeling for her at the moment," Sheahan said.
"We will all wrap our arms around 'H' and she has the full support of the entire football club for her recovery and rehabilitation.
"Harriet is a work-horse with huge professionalism in the way she prepares herself to play and perform.
"We know that she will attack her rehabilitation first-class and that she will continue to shine as a leader within our program while on the sidelines for the rest of the season."
Richmond (1-2) will be back in action on Friday night when they take on Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
