Carlton star Zac Williams to miss 2023 AFL season with ruptured ACL

Carlton star Zac Williams will miss the entire 2023 AFL season after rupturing his ACL during pre-season, the club confirmed Saturday.

Williams, who crossed to the Blues from GWS ahead of the 2021 season, suffered the injury during a training session on Friday. It continues a horror run of luck for the 28-year-old, who managed just nine games last year after battling a calf injury.

“The club can confirm defender Zac Williams will unfortunately miss the 2023 season after rupturing his ACL,” Carlton’s head of football Brad Lloyd said in a statement. “He will undergo surgery to repair his ACL and from there, we will put a rehabilitation program in place for him over the next 12 months.

“These incidents are so unfortunate and we are all feeling for Zac, he could not have done any more this pre-season to get himself ready for the year.

“He has had more than his fair share of bad luck with injury Zac but in that time he has built up a lot of resilience, which he will no doubt tap into, as we all support him on his road to recovery from here.”

The Blues also confirmed young forward Sam Philp had undergone surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot.

Philp and Williams join Sam Walsh on the sidelines, with the gun midfielder still recovering from back surgery.

More to follow…