GOLD Coast co-captain Touk Miller will be sidelined for "a fair portion of footy" after scans revealed a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee.
The dual All-Australian midfielder will require surgery after suffering the injury in the third quarter of Sunday's 43-point win over North Melbourne.
He was assisted from the field and watched the remainder of the match with a brace around the knee.
Miller had scans late on Monday morning, with Suns football manager Wayne Campbell delivering the news.
"We expect him to miss a fair portion of footy," Campbell said.
"We can't really put a timeframe on that until after he’s seen the surgeon, but he will be unavailable in the short-to-medium term."
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Miller has missed just one game since the middle of 2019, and that was through suspension.
He was the joint winner of the 2022 AFL Coaches Association MVP award with Clayton Oliver and has won All-Australian jackets the past two years.
The 27-year-old averaged 28 disposals and seven tackles in the opening five rounds of this season.
Fellow Suns co-captain Jarrod Witts spoke on Sunday of the enormous hole Miller would leave in the side.
Witts, himself sidelined for the previous two weeks with a back injury, returned against the Kangaroos, and had a strong influence in the win.
Speaking after the match, the imposing ruckman described the challenge that laid ahead for the Suns without their midfield prime mover.
"You can't replace Touk, he's a really important part of our team," Witts said.
"He's obviously co-captain as well, he leads from the front, he has for a long time.
"It's tough. He gives everything to this footy club.
"It's not ideal at all if I'm being honest, but we'll get someone else to come in and play that role."
With Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell, both having strong seasons, the outside help is expected to come from reliable Brayden Fiorini, veteran Dave Swallow and perhaps powerful first-year player Bailey Humphrey.
Fiorini had some strong moments against the Roos, finishing with 21 disposals in a calm outing.
"It has helped us that we have put some more numbers in the the last few weeks, had a few more guys rotating, so someone will have to come in and carry that load," Witts said.
The 30-year-old says the niggle that kept him out the past fortnight is now behind him, confident it won't return.
"It's all good. I just had a couple of niggles I needed to get over," he said.
"I've been pretty lucky in my career, apart from a couple of big injuries, to not get these little niggly things going on.
"I hate missing games and felt good enough to play and I felt I could play my role.
"I think I'll be all right."
