West Coast’s nightmare season has reached another new low with All Australian forward Jake Waterman suffering a dislocated shoulder late in Sunday’s 66-point loss to Adelaide.

The 27-year-old was sandwiched in a five-man contest for the ball, with each player flying in with an arm up in the air, but Waterman’s position as the lowest man on the worst angle left him vulnerable.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jake Waterman suffers dislocated shoulder in crunching contest.

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Crushed between two Adelaide players, he and his opponents instantly knew he was in trouble.

Physios held Waterman’s right arm as still as possible as he walked off in clear agony to have it popped back in place.

“Look at the deep breaths he’s taking, he’s just trying to hide the pain,” Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Sports.

“Don’t say current footballers are soft, because they all went for that contest knowing anything could happen on the other side, and he was the one that copped the brunt of it.”

Waterman was seen with his arm in a sling after the match but Eagles coach Andrew McQualter confirmed the forward had since left Adelaide Oval to go to a nearby hospital.

“He won’t fly home tonight,” West Coast coach Andrew McQualter said.

“He’s clearly in a fair bit of pain. It (the shoulder) did come out, and there was some trouble getting it back in, or it might have popped out again.

“He’s gone to hospital now to get some scans and we’ll find out the full extent of that later on.

“Jake’s one of our leaders, one of our best players. You never want to lose your leaders.”

Waterman’s immediate future will now be in doubt at a time his teammate Jeremy McGovern, a fellow 2024 All Australian, could have his career ended by concussion.

The Eagles were already also without Waterman’s strike partner Jamie Cripps against the Crows because of a knee injury.

Waterman kicked a team-high three goals before he was forced off with the shoulder injury, while Adelaide were led by Josh Rachele’s five-goal haul in the 19.14 (128) to 8.14 (62) win.

Rachele hadn’t kicked five goals since his debut in 2022.

Tempers boiled over in the dying minutes when Eagles recruit Liam Baker pushed his forearm into the back of James Peatling’s neck while the Crow was face-down on the ground.

The incident sparked a major melee that is sure to attract plenty of fines.

Adelaide (7-4) will finish the round in the top four with a boosted percentage while West Coast (1-10) couldn’t reproduce the heroics from last week’s breakthrough win over St Kilda.

The Crows were error-riddled early against the Eagles, but once they hit their straps they were simply unstoppable.

Adelaide kicked four goals to three with the aid of the breeze in the first quarter, with West Coast’s intense pressure hard to shake.

West Coast won the territory battle in the second quarter, but it was Adelaide’s efficiency up forward that proved the difference.

The Crows’ lead extended to 23 points late in the quarter when Riley Thilthorpe kicked his second goal of the match.

But when Waterman nailed Josh Worrell with a brutal holding-the-ball tackle and then converted his 48m set shot after the half-time siren, the margin was back to a more manageable 17 points.

However, the third quarter became an avalanche of goals as Adelaide finally clicked into gear.

The Crows kicked 7.7 from 23 inside 50s — including two goals in the space of a minute from Rachele — as the margin swelled to 57 points by the final change.

Reilly O’Brien (45 hit-outs) was the dominant figure in the ruck, while Izak Rankine (23 disposals, six clearances, one goal) was a creative spark.

Crows skipper Jordan Dawson kicked 2.3 from his 27 disposals, also recording two goal assists alongside eight clearances and nine tackles.

- with AAP