Cameron Bernasconi's grand final dream could be in doubt after the Ainslie Tricolours star suffered a concussion during their AFL Canberra major semi-final triumph.
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The key-player copped a head-knock in the final-quarter of Ainslie's 16.11(107) to 12.8(80) win over Belconnen Magpies Alan Ray Oval on Saturday.
The loss of Bernasconi could be a major blow for the reigning champions, with Ben Jamieson also on ice until the grand final weekend.
The Tricolours put on an emphatic performance without the star backman but coach Chris Rouke says they "have improvements to do" ahead of the decider.
"We need to improve on our stoppage area, I thought we were pretty loose there," Rouke said.
"We'll start preparing for the next onslaught that comes our way. So we need to refresh and regroup while the two opposition teams go at each other."
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Rourke was looking for a big response from the Tricolours, who had the home-ground at their advantage.
A first-quarter blitz set up Ainslie's 27-point win over Belconnen, as Jordan Doering, Hayden Armstrong and Henry Delves shared the scoring duties.
But Belconnen came bouncing back in the final quarter as Luke Mckay scored a screamer to spark a last minute surge.
Rouke admitted he was "panicking until the last second" while Magpies player-coach James Bennett conceded the effort wasn't enough.
"We did well to hang in there and not let the score blow out but there was too much work to do after a poor first quarter," Bennett said.
"We played with a bit more freedom which is what I wanted to do in the first three-quarters. Maybe chasing a lead just takes some pressure off to kick and move around the backline.
"We were really close to cracking the game open but we couldn't quite get that next step.
"We need all 22 guys to play their role next week because we probably played at 80 percent of our capacity."
Belconnen will play the winner of the Queanbeyan Tigers and Eastlake Demons' minor semi-final clash next week.
Meanwhile the Canberra Demons conceded six goals to zero in the fourth quarter to cough up their final match of the NEAFL season.
The Demons were up by two goals at three-quarter time but the Redland Bombers booted six unanswered goals to win 17.8 (110) to 13.11 (89) at Scottsdale Park on Saturday.
AFL Canberra semi-finals
Saturday: AINSLIE TRICOLOURS 16.11(107) bt BELCONNEN MAGPIES 12.8(80)
Sunday: Queanbeyan Tigers v Eastlake Demons at Margaret Donoghoe Oval 1.15pm
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
