Eagles midfielder Ella Roberts faces knee surgery after ACL tear
West Coast Eagles midfielder Ella Roberts has torn her anterior cruciate ligament, and she will need knee reconstruction surgery. The club confirmed the injury on 2 November 2026 after scans came back. West Coast Eagles said the 21-year-old is set for the operation.
Roberts hurt her right knee in the first quarter of the Eagles' loss to Hawthorn, the last game of their season. She planted her leg to change direction, and the knee gave way. The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is the strap inside the knee that stops the shin sliding forward against the thigh. When it tears, players usually need surgery and a long rehabilitation before they return to play.
Roberts debuted in 2022 and has played 55 games for the club. She has kicked 20 goals. She is a two-time All-Australian, which means she was named in the league's team of the year twice. She also won West Coast's best and fairest award in 2024 and 2025.
This season she averaged 21.7 disposals, which is kicks and handballs combined, and five clearances. A clearance is when a player wins the ball out of a stoppage and gets it moving away from the pack. Those numbers came from a midfielder who was often the first to the ball in a scramble.
West Coast finished 13th on the AFLW ladder and missed the finals. The Hawthorn game was the last of the season, so Roberts's injury did not cost the Eagles a place in September. It does cost them one of their most consistent players for the year ahead.
For a 21-year-old with more than 50 games behind her, the road back is long but well trodden. Reconstruction surgery is common for ACL tears in football, and many players return to the same level after a full recovery. Roberts's rehabilitation will be the next thing to watch.
