Gold Coast will begin the AFL season without reigning Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell, who will have surgery on a broken finger suffered in State of Origin.
Victorian midfielder Rowell ended Sunday's Optus Stadium clash - the first of its kind in 25 years - on the bench after sustaining the injury and had scans on his return to the Gold Coast.
He has been ruled out of at least Opening Round on March 6 against Geelong and is likely to miss more games, with a return-to-play timeline to be determined after the operation.
The 24-year-old won a maiden All-Australian blazer to go with a club best and fairest and the game's top honour in a standout 2025 season.
The Suns will at least have Melbourne recruit Christian Petracca to bolster the midfield in Rowell's absence, with the Demons premiership star joining captain Noah Anderson and Touk Miller in a high-class rotation.
Origin's return wasn't without incident with Carlton's key defender Jacob Weitering hospitalised following a nasty fall and Mitch Georgiades, Callum Ah Chee and Sam Taylor all reporting various degrees of hamstring niggles.
Victoria beat Western Australia in the sold-out clash with AFL officials all but guaranteeing the concept would continue in some form next year and beyond, most likely as a pre-season fixture.
