If Fremantle are to win a maiden AFL premiership in 2015 they'll have to do it without forward Hayden Ballantyne after the goalsneak was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
A serious pectoral tendon rupture will sideline Ballantyne until 2016, with scans revealing the need for a surgical solution to the injury suffered against Carlton on Saturday night.
Ballantyne, 28, attempted a regulation tackle on Carlton captain Marc Murphy in the first quarter of Fremantle's 42-point win over the Blues but came off worse for it.
The tenacious forward played on after quarter-time, before being handed the substitute's vest at the main break.
"Shoulders they can look terrible but you can gather yourself and get going," coach Ross Lyon said after the match.
"Doctors said he could keep playing and he wanted to keep playing."
Lyon said the decision to take him out of the game came despite Ballantyne's wishes.
"He's tough, he was happy to keep playing," he said.
"Sometimes you've got to take responsibility to look after the athlete as best you can.
"We thought (substituting Ballantyne) was a win-win in the end."
Subsequent scans revealed the forward to have ruptured his pectoralis major tendon, which requires season-ending surgery to rectify.
The club said he would go under the knife later this week.
Last week, Carlton's Bryce Gibbs was ruled out for the season with a similar injury.
Ballantyne's goalkicking form has not reached great heights this season.
In his seventh AFL season, the 28-year-old was averaging less than a goal a game for the first time in his career.
But his tackling pressure was up in a sign of a changed role for the league leaders, rather than diminished capacity.
The league leaders sit a game clear on top of the AFL ladder after their victory over the Blues, and travel to play top-four aspirants Richmond on Saturday at the MCG.
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