Cody Weightman will spend an extended period on the sidelines after injuring his elbow in the loss to Fremantle last weekend in Perth.

After suffering a reoccurrence of the injury over the past fortnight, the Club has made the decision to send the small forward into surgery.

“At the end of the first quarter, Cody flew into a marking contest and landed heavily on his left arm from a height that caused his elbow to dislocate,” Head of Sports Medicine, Chris Bell said.

“Cody has had some instability issues with the elbow in the past that we have been able to manage.

“Scans yesterday have confirmed some structural ligament damage to the elbow that we need surgically repaired to make sure that Cody isn’t compromised by ongoing issues.

“We will confirm Cody’s rehab timeline following the surgery but expect him to miss the next 8-10 weeks.” 

Vice-captain Tom Liberatore is expected to return to the line-up for the Hawthorn clash after recovering from a bout of gastro in Perth.

Injury List

Tom Liberatore (illness) - Test

Nick Coffield (shoulder) - 6-8 weeks

Cody Weightman (elbow) - 8-10 weeks

Aiden O'Driscoll (concussion) - Indefinite

Bailey Smith (ACL) - Season