Gold Coast's Wil Powell will miss the rest of the AFL season after confirmation of a broken ankle and ligament damage suffered in a horrific on-field accident.
Powell has hurt in an attempted tackle from Adelaide's Ned McHenry during the Suns' 43-point win at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.
The popular 22-year-old was due to undergo surgery on Monday and joins key forward Ben King and midfield dasher Lachie Weller (both knee) on the long-term injury list.
"It was a pretty severe injury," Suns football manager Wayne Campbell said.
"He's dislocated and fractured his ankle with a bit of ligament damage in there as well.
"He spent the night in hospital last night, will be operated on today and will spend a couple more nights in hospital.
"He's tough and he's much-loved and we're looking after him as best we can.
"We'll put him through a rehab process and are really confident in our medical and high performance department to get him back.
"But he'll sit out the rest of the year and we'll get him up and going for pre-season next year."
Injuries to Powell and teammate Connor Budarick (hamstring) put a dampener on the Suns' win over Adelaide.
McHenry immediately called for medical assistance when he noticed Powell was hurt and the game was held up for more than five minutes.
Powell was eventually driven away on a medi-cab and taken to hospital.
Vision of the injury was so gruesome that the television broadcaster chose not to show replays, although some Suns players saw replays on the big screen at the ground.
"When it's your mate - and everyone knows that Powelly lives for footy - for a little period there was emotionally a little bit of an effect," Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew told reporters post-match.
"Then they were able to resettle, but I think it's only human that when a bad one like that happens there was a little period there where they were just on the back foot.
"They had the maturity to be able to refocus and go again."
Gold Coast co-captain Jarrod Witts said it was a "tough" situation for Powell and the playing group.
"Wil's a great clubman and brings a lot of energy to our group," Witts said.
"We'll get around him when we figure out what's the go.
"It's disappointing because he's such a good fella."
Gold Coast (7-6) are within sight of the top eight after three straight wins, and five in their last six matches.
The Suns take on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, with both sides desperate to improve their finals chances.
