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Gold Coast Suns rising star Matt Rowell ruled out for three months after electing for shoulder surgery

The West Australian
VideoWATCH: Rising star favourite Matt Rowell dislocated his shoulder in the Suns' clash against the Cats.

Matt Rowell is set for at least three months on the sidelines, with the Gold Coast Suns today deciding to send the young gun for surgery.

But the injury shouldn’t prevent him from claiming the Rising Star award in 2020, according to AFL great Leigh Matthews.

Rowell, the number one draft pick in 2019, had been in outstanding form for the Suns, averaging 21 disposals a game before he dislocated his shoulder in the first quarter of the loss to Geelong.

Given Rowell is just 18, the Suns today decided to take a conservative approach with the midfielder.

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“Matt met with a surgeon again today in Sydney and the outcome from that is he’ll undertake some surgery early next week,” Suns general manager of football operations Jon Haines said.

“This is the first real injury that Matt’s had in his whole career so it was a new experience for him.

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“We wanted to make sure that Matt’s parents and Matt himself had really good input and a good understanding of the options available to them.

VideoGold Coast Suns dominate West Coast in their first match of the restarted AFL season.

“Ultimately it was a decision that Matt had to make so we had to make sure that we laid all the evidence and all the research and all the information out for him and his family to consider and for them to make an informed opinion which they have.”

Matthews said the fact Rowell has already polled more coaches votes than 2019 Rising Star winner Sam Walsh and 2018 winner Jaidyn Stephenson was proof he could still win the title.

“Unless there’s another first year or someone eligible for the rising star that really elevates themselves... he played three best on grounds, the coaches award is the one for me that’s got the most credibility, you’ve got three best on grounds in the coaches award,” Matthews said.

According to Haines, Rowell will undergo surgery in Sydney and stay with the team before returning to the Gold Coast after Round 7.

While it’s hard to predict an exact timeframe, Haines said injuries of a similar nature usually require at least 12 weeks of rehabilitation.

“It will be quite a significant amount of time out of the game,” he said.

“Typically these can be a three-month and beyond recuperation period so we’d expect that will be typical of his case but we’ll see how it progresses.”

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