PORT Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff will miss most of the pre-season after undergoing a third shoulder reconstruction in the past two years.

The 29-year-old had a complex Latarjet-Bristow procedure performed on his left shoulder in Adelaide on Tuesday night.

He will have his left arm in a sling for six weeks and won't resume contact drills until after Christmas, but is aiming to play in the Power's first pre-season game in 2020.

"It's frustrating. These shoulder injuries have become pretty debilitating at times, but hopefully this surgery will do the job," Rockliff told News Corp.

"If all goes to plan, I hope to be ready to play the first pre-season match next year, but we'll have to wait to see how things go with the recovery.

"I'll be out of all contact drills until after Christmas, which is frustrating, because you want to have a full pre-season, especially at my age.

"But I’ll just have to get on with things."

The procedure is used to treat recurrent shoulder dislocations.

It involves a piece of bone being taken from one part of the shoulder and attached to the front of the shoulder socket to act as a barrier to block the shoulder from slipping out of the socket.

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Rockliff had keyhole surgery on his shoulder after joining the Power from Brisbane at the end of 2017, before having more surgery at the end of last year.

He re-injured his shoulder in the round eight Showdown against Adelaide this year, but managed to play out the season.

"I played out the game and the rest of the year because it didn't feel too bad but there were moments in games where it would flare up, feel a bit jumpy and be a bit restricting.

"It had its good and bad moments."

Rockliff averaged 28.5 disposals in 18 games for the Power this year.

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