Geelong rookie Tom Allwright will have surgery on his knee after suffering a grade three tear of his posterior cruciate ligament in the Cats practice match with Richmond in Yea.

Allwright is likely to be sidelined for 12 weeks after the surgery.

Allwright, whose good preseason had earned selection in both the Cats preseason games, suffered in the injury in the second quarter of Geelong’s hit out against Richmond in Yea.

“It’s a shame for Tom as he has had a good preseason and earned his spot the last couple of,” Geelong’s general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“When it comes to knee injuries it’s always a bit of a double edge sword. It’s not ideal that Tom will miss two months of the season, but with knees it could always be worse. We expect that he will be fully ready to go for the second half of the season”

Allwright is in his second season on the Cats rookie list. He played 14 VFL games in 2009 and his form warranted retention for another season. Allwright is originally from Tasmania.