Port Adelaide Tom Rockliff has undergone a third shoulder reconstruction and will miss most of the pre-season.
Rockliff, 29, went under the knife on Tuesday night and will have to wait until after Christmas to recommence full contact training.
"It's frustrating,” Rockliff told News Corp.
“These shoulder injuries have become pretty debilitating at times, but hopefully this surgery will do the job.
"If all goes to plan, I hope to be ready to play the first pre-season match next year, but we'll have to wait to see how things go with the recovery.
"I'll be out of all contact drills until after Christmas, which is frustrating, because you want to have a full pre-season, especially at my age."
The former Lion averaged 28.5 disposals, 6.1 clearances and 4.6 tackles from his 18 matches in 2019.