Essendon ruckman, David Hille,will have surgeryon his knee to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the rest of the season.
Football operations manager, Paul Hamilton, said the club's worst fears were confirmed after Hille had an MRI today.
""He will have an operationsoon and will begin his rehabiliation immediately after that,"" Hamilton said.
""This is very disappointing for David, the club and our supporters because he is one of our strong leaders on and off the field and we are going to miss him.
""We now need some young players to step up and this has been a focus of ours this season - we expect our young players to fill the gap if something like this occurs.""
Hamilton said second year ruckman, Tom Bellchambers, and second year key-position player, Cale Hooker, would most likely be given more opportunities to support Paddy Ryder in the ruck.
