Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) have ruled young forward Noah Long out for the remainder of the season.
Long will have knee surgery after being substituted out of last weekend’s loss to Essendon in the third quarter and will now miss the rest of the Eagles’ campaign.
He avoided any damage to his anterior cruciate ligament, but the club on Tuesday confirmed he will be sent for surgery on his posterior cruciate ligament.
“Longy had a consultation with the specialist, unfortunately he needs surgery which will put a finish to his season,” high performance manager Mat Inness told the club’s website.
Long played seven games in his second season at the club. He missed their opening round match and a round eight clash with Gold Coast with a hip pointer injury.
The pressure forward kicked two goals this campaign.
The Eagles will also be without Jack Petruccelle for Sunday afternoon’s clash with Narrm (Melbourne) after being substituted out of the loss to Collingwood at the weekend.
Petruccelle came off with an ankle injury that has now been diagnosed as low-grade syndesmosis.
“He will miss this week, possibly one or two after that,” Inness said.
The Eagles are still hopeful star trio Jeremy McGovern, Jake Waterman and Elliot Yeo could all play against the Demons.
Waterman and Yeo both missed the Magpies defeat at the weekend, while McGovern was sent to hospital on Sunday night as a precaution after a heavy landing from a marking contest.
Yeo appears the most likely of the three to face the Demons, with Inness revealing he is symptom free as he races to overcome a groin injury.
“Gov got the heavy knock over the weekend … he’s pulled up really well. He’ll be a test later in the week but hopefully he gets up,” Inness said.
“(Yeo) has been training for the last week. He hasn’t had any symptoms since early last week. He’ll be a test later this week.”
Matt Flynn’s eagerly-anticipated return from a knee injury for the first time as an Eagle could be as soon as a fortnight away.