Dubbo Demons AFL players taken to hospital after car crash

The Dubbo Demons AFL Club is rallying behind its members after the confronting incident near Molong on Saturday.

The four players were travelling in the same car and were all taken to Orange Hospital after the crash, club officials say.

Two of the footballers had been released while two would remain in hospital and were in a satisfactory condition, Dubbo Demons said in a post to its Facebook page on Saturday.

The club was to play the Bathurst Giants at Bathurst.

Demons team manager Shayne Wilesmith told the Daily Liberal he and coach Will Bunt were some of the the first people at the scene.

“It’s very confronting to see it,” he said.

“Thank God they’re still alive.

“Thank God we can have a laugh with them still.”

Mr Bunt said many people had stopped to assist at the scene, and he expressed gratitude.

Among them was a nurse, paramedic students who were also Bathurst CSU players travelling to Dubbo and an ambulance travelling from Dubbo to Orange.

“It was pretty lucky, they got care straight away,” Mr Bunt said.

The team went to the hospital to wait with the players until their families arrived, he said.

The club is focused on the health and wellbeing of its players after the event.

“We’ll see how we go through the week, we have people lined up if anyone needs counselling or to talk,” Mr Bunt said.

“The main thing is to make sure the young blokes involved are okay.

“They’re in pretty good care at Orange Hospital, so that’s a good thing.”

The club has rallied in the face of the upset.

“Two of the blokes are only new to the club this year, the way the club got behind them, it shows how close the group is and how supportive they are of each other,” Mr Bunt said.

“We’re all thinking of them (the four players), hoping they’re going to get better, looking forward to catching up with them.”

Mr Bunt and Mr Wilesmith praised the Bathurst Giants, who forfeited the match in a sign of respect.

The two patients were both stable, a Western NSW Local Health District spokesman said on Sunday.