Essendon and the Western Bulldogs are the latest clubs to be struck by lengthy soft-tissue setbacks as Bombers forward Matt Guelfi and Dogs veteran Liam Jones face months out of action with hamstring issues.
Jones suffered a high-grade strain over the weekend and is now facing 8-10 weeks on the sidelines, ruling him out of the opening rounds of the 2025 season.
The setback will also mean Jones is unavailable for next week's Indigenous All Stars game against Fremantle.
The injury is the fourth at the Kennel this pre-season that will see a Dogs player miss the start of the home and away campaign, with Adam Treloar (calf), Jason Johannisen (hamstring) and Anthony Scott (knee) also placed in the club's casualty ward for extended periods.
The Bulldogs could also be without key forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan for the early rounds due to personal reasons.
The Dogs will face Essendon and Hawthorn as part of their pre-season run in the lead-up to a Round 1 bout against North Melbourne in mid-March.
At Tullamarine, the Bombers have confirmed Guelfi has undergone surgery on a hamstring injury that has hampered his pre-season.
Guefli again injured his niggling hamstring last week, with subsequent consultation and assessment of the ailment leading to the decision to put the small forward under the knife.
โ'Guelf'ย was progressing well in the rehab of the injury he sustained pre-Christmas, so it's really disappointing to see him suffer another setback,โ GM โ AFLย Daniel McPhersonย said.
โHe'dย spent part of his off-season visiting soft-tissue specialists in the USA, and together with our medical team was implementing what he'd learnt overseas into his pre-season program, so it's frustrating that he hasn't been able to get a clean run at it to this point.
โWhilst surgery will keep him sidelined for the next few months, we'reย confident we'll get to see โGuelf' back out there playing plenty of strong footy for us this season.โ
The setback has Guelfi facing 10-12 weeks in recovery, delaying the start of his 2025 season significantly.
Guelfi will undergo surgery next week.