DANIEL Markworth has been dealt yet another cruel injury blow with the young St Kilda forward suffering a dislocated shoulder that will likely end his season.
AFL.com.au understands the 22-year-old will have surgery next week, which will sideline him for at least six months.
It's not confirmed he'll need a full reconstruction but it appears likely.
The untried forward first tweaked his right shoulder in the Saints' intra-club match two weeks ago.
But a training incident yesterday where he lunged to land a tackle dislocated it fully and medical staff struggled to get it back in before Markworth was treated in hospital.
It's yet another knock for the athletic youngster who has failed to play a single AFL game since being drafted with pick No.35 in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft.
"He's had a shocking run," Saints assistant coach Aaron Hamill told AFL.com.au.
"You certainly need a bit of luck in this game and unfortunately Dan's been on the wrong side of it for a number of years now.
"He was really starting to show some signs of an AFL footballer so we're really disappointed for him.
"He's waiting to see the surgeon but he can't continually play like that and have it pop out so it's really disappointing for him, and us as a club and a forward line.
"It certainly puts his 2015 season in jeopardy, there's no doubt about that."
Markworth came close to a debut at the end of 2012 after spending his first season at the club in the VFL.
But he endured a knee reconstruction at the end of that year after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on the Saints' Colorado training camp.
He got back to playing in the VFL at the end of 2013 before suffering a minor setback when he needed scar tissue cleaned out from his knee shortly before Christmas.
Markworth then tore his hamstring in June last year and missed the rest of the season with the high-grade injury.
Even so, the Saints signed him on for another season to give him the chance to get his body right and push for a senior debut.
Markworth had shown positive signs this pre-season with his pace and explosiveness, and appeared to have made in-roads having put his knee and hamstring issues behind him, but this latest setback looks likely to mean he will be on the Saints' list for a fourth year without playing a senior game.
