Gold Coast defender Rory Thompson will miss the entire 2019 AFL season after scans confirmed he ruptured his ACL at training on Friday.
It is a major blow for the Suns, with Thompson set to fill the void in defence left by departed former co-captain Steven May.
"After playing 17 games last season and having some great consistency throughout the pre-season we were looking forward to Rory playing a key role for the club down back this year," football manager Jon Haines said.
"As an entire club, we'll make sure we get behind Rory to help him get through the next 12 months."
His injury follows that of speedy forward Sean Lemmens, who will miss up to eight weeks with an ankle injury sustained in the final minute of last weekend's win against Western Bulldogs.
