A recurring shoulder problem means Gold Coast's Izak Rankine may well have played his final AFL game for the Suns and is facing likely off-season surgery.
Rankine came off late in last weekend's loss to Geelong after aggravating an existing shoulder issue when landing awkwardly in a tackle by Cats superstar Patrick Dangerfield.
The off-contract 22-year-old forward, weighing up a lucrative offer from hometown club Adelaide, hasn't trained this week and Suns coach Stuart Dew says he's in major doubt for the final match of the home-and-away season against North Melbourne on Saturday.
Dew also dismissed the possibility the clash with North could be Rankine's last with the club as a factor in whether he gets selected or not.
"If he's not right, he's not right," Dew told reporters on Wednesday.
"In terms of whether it's his last game or not, that's hypothetical.
"We know he's got a decision at the end of the season but I think the main part is all that external stuff is not going to come into the decision of whether he plays or not.
"If he's fit to play, he plays, and, if the risk is too great, player's welfare comes first."
Dew said Rankine had been battling the shoulder issue for several weeks and regardless of whether he signs a new deal at the Suns or moves to the Crows, a date with the surgeon looks likely.
"He's had a couple of incidents in games and a couple at training," Dew said.
"So we'll sit down the next 24 hours and see how he looks tomorrow but we won't take a risk with him, obviously.
"It's one of those ones, it's likely he'll need a operation at the end of the year."
The Suns are already without Sam Day (knee), Nick Holman (back) and Rory Atkins (concussion) against North as both teams look to head into the off-season on the back of a win.
"Our goal is to hit the line with a bit of speed and this week's an opportunity to do that," Dew said.
"But North will be thinking the same thing because always, the last round, you want to have a good performance heading into the summer."
