THE SEASON of Gold Coast's Peter Wright is likely over after the forward suffered a medial ligament strain against Melbourne on Sunday at the MCG.
The Suns were dealt a heavy blow in the opening stages of the clash with the Demons when Wright twisted his left knee when taking a leading mark inside 50 in the opening minute of the game.
He went back and took his kick, which he missed, and hobbled off the ground two minutes later, getting caught up in active play on his way to the bench.
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He went straight to the rooms for treatment and emerged later on crutches to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines.
Suns coach Stuart Dew confirmed the early diagnosis was a medial ligament strain, which would likely be confirmed by scans this week.
He also said Wright's absence wasn't the sole reason behind the Suns' 96-point loss but admitted it did make things tricky with key players Tom Lynch, Steven May and Rory Thompson also missing from the line-up.
"We lost our second ruck and our key forward, so on the back of that you move your key back up forward and I thought Jack Leslie played well and gave us a target," Dew said.
"It did upset our structure but that's not the total reason.
"I think our guys were reasonably deflated by that, and at quarter-time I thought we were able to reset and show a fair bit of spirit in the second and third.
"That's our challenge – to be able to reset within quarters rather than wait until the break."
May will be back for Saturday's clash with Richmond at Metricon Stadium after serving a one-week suspension, while Thompson is expected to return from injury and David Swallow from concussion.
Dew also said Brayden Crossley should be available after overcoming a cheekbone injury while Michael Barlow would be "in the discussions for sure" after the Suns were beaten handsomely in contested ball.
He added that Jarryd Lyons would be considered after being dropped for the second time this year.
"We spoke to him about his ability to cover the ground out on the big deck," Dew said.
"He got a fair few touches last week but then it's what's next and also in transition, making sure he can play his role in that.
"We gave him good clarity for that and he'll be up for selection again."
