NORTH Melbourne's week from hell has taken a turn for the worse with Luke McDonald now facing a battle to return for the finals after undergoing hamstring surgery.
McDonald posted a photo of himself in his hospital bed on Instagram on Wednesday morning, saying: "Surgery a success, thanks for all the messages and well wishes."
"Look forward to getting back on the park with the boys and building towards the real stuff."
McDonald injured his hamstring after a superb chase-down tackle on Cyril Rioli in the second quarter of North Melbourne's nine-point loss to Hawthorn last Friday night.
North coach Brad Scott was hopeful on Monday that McDonald's injury was "not too serious", but conceded it was "serious enough" for the club to seek advice from a surgeon.
Scott cops massive fine for false umpire claims
It's understood North expects McDonald to be sidelined for about eight weeks, which suggests the 21-year-old faces a race against time to play senior football again this year.
McDonald's bad news follows the massive AFL fines handed to the club ($50,000) and Scott ($30,000) on Tuesday after the Roos coach's comments suggesting the umpires in last Friday night's loss to Hawthorn had been biased against Lindsay Thomas.
A day earlier, North chairman James Brayshaw had been forced to apologise for his part in the Triple M radio segment that joked about holding senior Fairfax journalist Caroline Wilson under water.
