Mark O’Connor will miss the rest of the AFL season after the Geelong utility underwent wrist surgery yesterday.
The Cats say the Irishman, who played the last of his 13 AFL games of the season when he was the starting sub against Essendon in Round 16, went under the knife to repair ligament damage.
“Mark underwent successful surgery and will take no further part in our finals campaign,” assistant football boss Brett Johnson said.
“We look forward to seeing him back out on the track and ready to go for a full pre-season.”
O’Connor joins young bigs Toby Conway (foot) and Mitch Edwards (back) in having their seasons ended prematurely by injury.
Veteran forward Gary Rohan is listed as ‘TBC’ after undergoing surgery on a fractured skull suffered in the VFL loss to Southport at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
Vice-captain Tom Stewart will be available for next Saturday’s preliminary final, while veteran duo Tom Hawkins and Cam Guthrie appear to have got through their returns from injury in the VFL unscathed.
Meanwhile, Irish hard-nut Rachel Kearns is a chance to return from injury for Saturday’s crucial clash with Carlton.
She was a late withdrawal from the draw with North Melbourne on Sunday.
“Rachel is recovering from a chest contusion and didn’t get up for the game on Sunday, but we’ll continue to monitor and assess her this week in terms of her availability to play against Carlton,” Johnson said.
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