North Melbourne defender Jamie Macmillan's season could be over after he pulled a finger tendon off the bone in last Saturday's loss to Gold Coast.
North announced on Tuesday morning Macmillan would miss up to eight weeks, but had not given up hope of returning before the end of the season.
Macmillan's injury occurred when he caught his right ring finger in the shorts of a Gold Coast player as he laid a tackle in the second quarter at Metricon Stadium.
"Jamie will require surgery to repair the flexor tendon after it was pulled off the bone," North doctor Peter Baquie told NMFC.com.au.
"A surgeon will reattach the tendon on Thursday and, unfortunately, that means Jamie is looking at around six to eight weeks on the sidelines, but we're very optimistic about it being the former."
The Roos also announced Jarrad Waite (calf) and Marley Williams (back strain) would miss 3-4 weeks and 1-2 weeks respectively.
Waite spent most of the final quarter of last Saturday night's loss to Gold Coast on the interchange bench icing his calf, having earlier been one of the Kangaroos' best players with a team-high four goals.
It's understood Waite is highly unlikely to recover in time to take on Freo, but North is awaiting the results of scans to determine how much time the 34-year-old is likely to spend on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, North also could consider resting skipper Jack Ziebell on Sunday given fellow inside midfielders Ben Cunnington (suspension) and Trent Dumont (rested) should return.
Ziebell carried a sore right shoulder into the Suns clash at Metricon Stadium and is believed to be nursing other niggles after playing every game this season.
Waite's injury is the second he has suffered this year, with a shoulder injury sidelining him for five games after North's round one loss to West Coast.
The former Blue also missed round eight after he was suspended for a rough tackle on Crow Tom Lynch.
Waite has been handed a new role on the wing over the past two weeks, partly to create room for Majak Daw on North's forward line.
His rare athleticism for his height (194cm) has ensured he has not looked out of place up the ground, while he has continued to hit the scoreboard, having kicked three goals against the Western Bulldogs in round 14 before topping that tally against the Suns.
Waite sits second on North's 2017 goalkicking list with 17 majors, behind Ben Brown (34).
