Jai Culley’s strong start to his second season at Melbourne has been cruelled by what could be the second serious knee injury of his career.

The 23-year-old former West Coast player initially hurt his left leg in the first quarter then went down for good late in the second quarter against Richmond on Friday night.

Watch the video above: Jai Culley goes down with knee injury

Play continued nearby as a trainer rushed out to check on the midfielder and help him down to the rooms.

“He’s grabbed straight at that left knee, he is in a world of pain,” Abbey Holmes said on Channel 7.

As replays rolled Matthew Richardson added: “I don’t like it when there’s not a lot of contact. Let’s hope he’s OK, been really good this year for the Dees.”

Culley, who suffered a ruptured right ACL in 2023 and was delisted by the Eagles at the end of 2024, returned to the bench later in the second term on Friday night.

“He’s had his head in his hands,” Holmes said.

“He looks absolutely shattered, he is done for the night with that knee injury.”

Culley was seen wiping away tears at the half-time break as teammates rallied around him.

He signed for Melbourne’s VFL affiliate Casey for 2025 before earning his way onto the AFL list as a pre-season signing.

Sidelined by a stress fracture in his foot last year, he impressed new coach Steven King over summer to be picked in every game so far in 2026 and earn a contract extension until the end of 2028.

But now Culley appears resigned to another ACL, the same fate that befell Collingwood defender Reef McInnes hours earlier.

McInnes tore his left ACL in a VFL game on Friday only 13 months on from tearing his right.

Melbourne declined to provide specifics on Culley at half-time, only describing it as a “significant left knee injury”.

“He’s clearly quite emotional on the bench, he put some ice on his knee after it,” Xander McGuire said on Channel 7.

“You hate to think it might be another ACL but that’s probably what looks most likely at this point.”

McGuire later aired vision of Culley’s knee buckling in a tackle in the opening term, prompting him to seek treatment from a physio at quarter-time.

“He’s extending his knee, he’s pointing to discomfort and the physio completes a couple of tests on him at the huddle,” McGuire said.

“Then the second quarter that same left knee buckles underneath his weight and it’s a suspected ACL.

“The question needs to be asked to what extent did the first issue contribute to the second, and was he right to play out there?”

Holmes added: “Could this have been avoided? That’s certainly going to be a question.”

Culley’s second fall came just minutes after boundary umpire Patrick Dineen hurt his wrist in a fall.

The whistleblower attempted to get out of the way of a kick but tripped over his own feet, landing hard and quickly holding his injured arm.

The Richmond doctor assessed Dineen while popular goal umpire David Rodan prepared to be injected into the game if required.