North Melbourne vice-captain Luke McDonald will miss up to 12 weeks with a torn pectoral muscle.
McDonald will undergo surgery on Wednesday after sustaining the injury in the Kangaroos' Round 4 loss to Adelaide.
North Melbourne GM of Football Brady Rawlings says the 26-year-old won’t be available until well after the mid-season bye.
“It’s a really unlucky type of injury, and it’s really disappointing for us given we missed Luke at the start of the year,” Rawlings said in a club statement.
“We’ve gone to the specialists and the recommendation is for surgery so Luke will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair the torn pec.
“To get full function and to get back to full strength the best way to go about it is to have surgery.
“At this stage we think a recovery period in rehab probably around 10-12 weeks so (we) expect to see Luke well after the bye.
“Luke is an integral part of our team … he’s vice-captain for a reason. He’s such an important player for us.
“I think early in the season without him out there it’s been hard to cover at times, but there’s been some really good opportunities for other players to play those roles.”
North Melbourne’s reigning best and fairest missed the club’s Round 1 loss to Port Adelaide with a quad injury.
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