MELBOURNE defender James Frawley is set to be sidelined for up to four weeks, after scans on Monday revealed the damage to a strained hamstring.
Frawley's news added to an action-packed day for the Demons, in which they retained Mark Neeld as coach and announced interim CEO Peter Jackson would continue up until 2014.
Frawley produced one of his best performances of the year during the club's 95-point loss to Hawthorn on Sunday, restricting Hawks spearhead Lance Franklin to 2.3 and repeatedly winning one-on-one contests.
But Frawley limped off late in the game and scans on Monday revealed the bad news.
It is poor timing for the Demons, who will be severely undermanned going into their Queen's Birthday clash with Collingwood.
Frawley's absence will be a key loss, with the star defender a logical opponent for the Magpies' Travis Cloke.
Frawley will join fellow senior Melbourne players Jack Grimes (shoulder) and Mitch Clark (foot) on the sidelines.
Co-captain Grimes and key forward Clark are still around five weeks from a return, while first-year father-son recruit Jack Viney (toe) is facing another two to three weeks out.
Ben Guthrie covers Melbourne news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_BenGuthrie
