Brown, who sustained a hamstring strain in round 17, pulled up sore from training on Wednesday and would have been unavailable for the next fortnight.
In the circumstances, the club has decided that it would bring forward the operation to remove the rod.
The rod was inserted after the Tiger horrifically broke his leg last year in round 10 and was originally scheduled to be removed post-season.
The surgery will mean Brown will miss the rest of the season before beginning to prepare for 2007 and his focus will now shift to getting back to 100 per cent fitness for round one next year.
