North Melbourne have suffered a huge injury blow with veteran forward Jarrad Waite to miss up to six weeks with a shoulder injury.
Waite suffered the injury to his left AC joint in Sunday's 43-point AFL loss to West Coast, with scans confirming he will require surgery.
"We anticipate that he will be out for about four to six weeks," North Melbourne football chief Cameron Joyce said.
"We're hopeful to have him available for selection sooner rather than later."
Waite played the first 12 games of the 2016 season but was restricted to just two appearances in the last 11 games as a hip injury took its toll.
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The former Carlton star was poised to carry extra responsibility in a recast attack this season with the departure of club stalwart Drew Petrie.
He endured a torrid time of it in his 222nd AFL appearance, kicking a wasteful 1.7 before getting injured late in the Etihad Stadium encounter.
The 34-year-old's setback continues a wretched run for Kangaroos tall forwards with Ben Brown, Majak Daw and Mason Wood all dealing with injuries in the pre-season.
Brown kicked two goals in the loss to the Eagles and Wood is still at least two weeks away with a hamstring injury, but Daw played in the VFL at the weekend and looms as the natural replacement for Waite.
"While we are obviously disappointed to see Jarrad sidelined, we had a number of really strong performances from our forwards in Werribee's VFL practice match on Saturday afternoon," Joyce said.
"There are plenty of players ready to come in and make that position their own."
