Geelong have been dealt a huge injury blow with Joel Selwood to undergo ankle surgery which will sideline him until the AFL finals.
The Cats' inspirational skipper was helped from Simonds Stadium in obvious pain in the second quarter of Friday night's 16.11 (107) to 8.13 (61) loss to Sydney.
He was able to return in the second half but hurt the same ankle in a Lance Franklin tackle and was pulled from the game early in the final term.
Geelong on Sunday confirmed Selwood would go under the knife after suffering a syndesmosis injury on his left ankle.
"Selwood will not be available for the remaining three home and away games but is expected to be able to return for the finals series," the Cats said in a statement.
Selwood was on crutches over the weekend but had expressed hope he could return for next Saturday's big home clash with Richmond.
"(I'm) definitely hopeful, obviously non-weight bearing for the weekend and it's amazing how they can come up," Selwood said on Saturday morning.
Coach Chris Scott also gave an optimistic assessment of the injury immediately after the match.
"I'm actually confident enough to say now that he'll be fine," Scott told reporters.
"Clearly in the last quarter, the discussion was around whether we should keep pushing him through and make his chances of playing next week lower.
"So given that, we sit here pretty confident that he'll be OK."
The Cats will welcome back midfield superstar Patrick Dangerfield for their clash with the Tigers after he served a one-game suspension for a dangerous tackle on Carlton's Matthew Kreuzer.
But the loss of 29-year-old Selwood nonetheless comes at a bad time for the Cats, with games against Richmond, Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney ahead of them.
Selwood has played all but one game this season, averaging 26 disposals, five tackles and six clearances per outing.
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