JAMIE Elliott is almost certain to miss the rest of the season with the Collingwood forward set to have surgery on his troublesome back.
Elliott met with a specialist on Monday to determine the best course of action after he suffered a setback in his recovery from a back injury.
The specialist recommended surgical intervention, which is expected to sideline him for up to six weeks.
The high-flying forward is expected to go under the knife this week.
"The good news is that [the surgery] will be more anatomical in nature and not particularly invasive which when you’re talking about back surgery, that is good news," Magpies football boss Neil Balme told collingwoodfc.com.au.
"It'll keep him out for about six weeks and then he should be fine to move on and we’ll see what happens from there."
The Magpies have refused to give up hope that Elliott – who has been battling the debilitating pars defect injury – may return later in the year.
But that seems highly unlikely given he has not played a game throughout the club's 2016 campaign.
"It makes it a bit tough for him to have an impact this year but it’s certainly not out of the question as yet," Balme said.
Pars defect, also known as spondylolysis, is a defect of the lumbar vertebra in the spinal column.
The small forward re-injured his back during a training drill two weeks ago.
The Magpies initially chose to take Elliott out of training in late February to allow his back time to heal.
They were patient with his return to training and Elliott had started to make some inroads by early April.
Collingwood had a specific running plan set out for Elliott as it carefully managed his workload but the spasmodic nature of the injury meant the club could never be sure about how he would respond to a lift in training intensity.
Elliott, the club's leading goalkicker last season, has been a notable absentee from Collingwood's forward line in 2016.
Elliott booted 35 majors for the 2015 season.
He has kicked 104 goals in 72 matches since making his debut in round nine, 2012.
