MELBOURNE premiership defender Harrison Petty is facing a race against the clock to feature in the side's round one Grand Final rematch with the Western Bulldogs, after he underwent surgery on a calf injury this week.

Petty sustained a corked calf during match simulation drills at training last Friday and was forced to have a small incision in the region to release the bleeding after the swelling failed to subside over the weekend.

The Demons expect the 22-year-old to miss around four to six weeks as he recovers from the procedure, throwing his chances of facing the Bulldogs on March 16 into significant doubt.

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Petty played a key role in Melbourne's premiership victory last season, featuring in the final 18 matches of the year – including the Grand Final – after Adam Tomlinson was lost to a season-ending ACL injury.

He was rewarded for his excellent campaign with a fresh three-year extension to his existing contract, signed last October, which will take him through until at least the end of the 2025 season.

"Harrison got a corkie during a bit of match sim last Friday and it was a pretty severe one," Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson said on Thursday.

"We gave it a week off to try and let things settle down but unfortunately that didn’t happen, so he had to have surgery.

"The surgery went really well, the surgeon's very optimistic that we're going to get the outcome that we're after.

"We’re thinking anywhere between four to six weeks before he’d be right to go again, so that’s pretty disappointing for him."

Melbourne has otherwise benefited from a full-strength playing group this summer and kicks off its pre-season campaign with a scratch match against North Melbourne next Thursday, before playing Carlton in the AAMI Community Series on March 3.