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Melbourne will be without Max Gawn until well into the second half of the AFL season after it was confirmed the All-Australian ruckman will need surgery because of a hamstring injury.
In a massive blow for the Demons, Gawn's hamstring injury is worse than expected and he will undergo surgery on Tuesday to fix a tendon.
Gawn said the surgery would sideline him for three months, meaning the Demons will be without their in-form ruckman until about round 15.
He suffered the injury during Saturday's 29-point loss to Geelong at Docklands.
"Obviously I just thought it was a normal hamstring early on - I actually felt like walking and going for a jog as soon as I did it," Gawn said.
"I felt like a little grab in me, so I walked straight off and the scans have obviously come back not great."
Gawn said his surgeon was optimistic, telling the Demons star that Nick Dal Santo had undergone similar surgery and the former onballer was back in seven weeks.
"I'm not Nick Dal Santo - I'm obviously a lot taller and I've done four hamstrings," Gawn said.
The Demons were initially hopeful, with Gawn only feeling pain in the middle of the hamstring.
But that turned out to be referred pain and scans revealed the tendon damage.
"They always had that shade of grey as well, they weren't sure just because of the history I've had, that it might be something else, so luckily we got the scan," Gawn said.
"I'd say it's probably that three-month mark."
Gawn also tweaked his back in round one, but said he had been injury-free until Saturday.
"Hamstrings can come out of nowhere - this one might have been one of them," he said.
"It is frustrating, [but] I've probably had a pretty good run at it.
"For someone who's had eight operations on one knee, I've managed to go almost four years without an injury at all.
"I've had a pretty good run, unfortunately when I get broken down it's a big one."
Gawn has kept his sense of humour - asked if he thought the Demons could cope without him, he replied: "I'd like to say no."
He also backed reserve ruckman Jake Spencer to fill the breach until he returned.
"You look at the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn at times and West Coast at the moment, they're very ruck deprived and they've still managed to play well," Gawn said.
"We still have Jake Spencer, who's a quality ruckman and I've always talked up his ability.
"I find it very hard to train against him ... he's always been a competitive beast.
"He won't die wondering."
AAP
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000
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