Hawthorn's Luke Breust faces a month on the sidelines, with the experienced AFL forward to undergo surgery on a fractured jaw.
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Breust suffered a knock in Sunday's win over North Melbourne and played out the game but was sent for scans after waking up sore on Monday.
"Luke got a knock to the jaw on the weekend whilst laying a tackle," Hawthorn physical performance manager Luke Boyd said.
"At the time he was a little bit sore but he managed to play out the game.
"He woke up on Monday morning though and he was quite sore through there so we got the area scanned.
"What that's shown is a small fracture through his jaw, so he will have surgery on that in the next 24 hours and he will miss a few weeks of football."
Breust has kicked six goals in four games this season.
The Hawks will be able to call on recruit Jonathon Patton - who sat out the Kangaroos clash with a foot issue but trained fully on Tuesday - to face GWS on Sunday.
Patton has kicked just three goals in as many games for Hawthorn but teammate Tom Scully was confident that the key forward - who previously suffered three ACL ruptures at the Giants - could deliver.
"I still think he's got some really good football ahead of him, so he's just got to remain confident in himself," Scully told reporters.
"I know from experience Johnny's a real confidence player as well - so once he gets his body and his mind up and going, his football will blossom from that."
Australian Associated Press
