Playing in his milestone match on Saturday in front of a legion of home fans, the Dogs champion came off late in the third term and didn't appear again for the afternoon.

"It's obviously really disappointing for him and for the club," Thornton said.

"He said he thought someone kicked him in the back and leg and he swung around and no one was there so it's definitely an achilles."

The Dogs mentor said after a torrid run with injury, and COVID in between it's been a long road for the beloved club man.

"It was a slog to get to 300 and to see him going down is disappointing - he was the last bloke to win a game here (before) I took over," he said.

Aside from Phillips, the Dogs mentor said Sam Lee injured his shoulder and they would assess it during the week and added a few have pulled up a bit sore but will be fine for this week's clash against Allansford.

"He's (Lee) probably been running at around 60 per cent with the shoulder this year," he said.

"He got another hit, so he'll have a scan and have a look.

"He's massive for us with his run and is so hard at it.

"Just a few were cramping so a few sore boys have come out of the game."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: