ESSENDON ruckman David Hille will have a traditional knee reconstruction on Thursday, after an MRI scan confirmed the big man ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and suffered cartilage damage on Saturday against Collingwood.

Hille will not have the revolutionary synthetic ligament operation that was a success for Swan Nick Malceski in 2007, owing to the damage surrounding his torn ligaments.

"He's met with the surgeon, had his MRI, and it's been confirmed he's ruptured his ACL," Essendon football operations manager Paul Hamilton said on Monday.

"We're expecting him to be out for the rest of the year, clearly. We'd love to think that he might be back for round one [2010], but generally it's a 12-month rehabilitation period."

Hamilton said the problems with Hille's cartilage meant the synthetic option was not considered by the Bombers.

He also believes the club will look at a back-up for Paddy Ryder as soon as this weekend, despite the fact the Bombers' next opponent is the Brisbane Lions, whose own ruck stocks have been decimated by injury.

"There are not often upsides to a long-term injury, but Paddy came out and played so well and took the mantle and seemed to enjoy it," he said.

"That was terrific, but to expect him to do that week in, week out will be a difficult assignment with a young player.

"He's going to clearly need some support, whether that comes from Tom Bellchambers or Cale Hooker, who played in the ruck on Sunday for Bendigo.

"It's important we don't go in naked. What happens if Paddy gets injured? We don't have anyone else.

"We do look at the opposition and it does play a part in our selection, but in this case, we definitely want to give some support."

Hamilton said Jason Laycock and rookie Christian Bock were not likely to come into the frame to replace Hille, given the former's "slow" recovery from a navicular injury and the latter's light 82kg frame.

On a brighter note, the Bombers are looking at getting young defender Michael Hurly back soon from a quad injury, which will shore up their defence if Ryder remains as the No.1 ruckman.

"We're really looking forward to getting Hurley back," Hamilton said.

"He's not too far away. We're being very conservative with his treatment. He'll miss another week and hopefully if things are going well, he'll be a chance after that."

Hamilton said Hille was "very disappointed" with the injury and would have the close support of his teammates and the club throughout his recovery.

"He's our reigning best and fairest winner. He's an important player for us, we understand that, and he's a great leader on the field," he said.

"For him to have his season curtailed at such an early stage is really disappointing for him.

"He generally is a positive-type person, and he's going to need that, as any player that sits out for a long period of time requires.

"To start with, he has to come to terms with the fact he's out for the rest of the year."