The Port Adelaide Power will be forced to start the 2022 AFL season without Tom Clurey.
According to a club statement, the 27-year-old underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee during the week.
The operation was needed to clean up the lateral mensicus after he had swelling following the Power's pre-season victory over the Adelaide Crows last weekend.
The statement suggests Clurey, who has played more than 100 games for Port Adelaide since his debut in 2013 - having been taken by the club with Pick 29 in the 2012 draft, will be out for around a month before he can begin training.
Head of medical services at the club Tim O'Leary said the procedure went well.
“Despite having no incident, and completing the game without restriction, Tom reported some swelling on the knee during recovery on Sunday morning,” O’Leary said.
“An MRI scan of the knee revealed a meniscal injury, which we felt best to tidy up now to ensure Tom will be available for the majority of the season.
“Assuming everything goes as planned, we would expect Tom to be training again within a month.”
Clurey played all of the first nine games last year, but only managed two games thereafter. However, he played 23 games in 2017, 19 in 2018, 21 in 2019 and 18 in 2020, becoming a mainstay of the Port Adelaide line up.
Clurey is on contract with Port Adelaide until the end of the 2023 season.
His month away at the start of the season will likely see him miss games against the Brisbane Lions, Hawthorn Hawks, Adelaide Crows and Melbourne Demons before being fit and available for selection.
