The surging Western Bulldogs will be without livewire forward Cody Weightman for the rest of the season.
After moving to 6-4 with a 91-point thumping of Essendon -- 18.19 (127) to 5.6 (36) -- on Saturday, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge confirmed Weightman wouldn't play in 2025.
Weightman suffered another setback to his knee last week, discovered when he went in for a routine scan.
The 24-year-old will undergo more surgery to fix up damage in his knee cap.
"Now he's processed the fact that he's not going to play ... he's not relieved, because he'd love to play, but he's okay," Beveridge said of Weightman.
"He's got peace of mind now he knows what he can do.
"In the meantime, he'll probably have another surgery between now and the end of the year, so that'll happen in the not too distant future.
"As you'd expect, he's such a great human being, he wants to know what his role is off-field.
"He wants to know how he can help.
"So we've got to find something for him."
The Bulldogs forward line continues to function superbly, even without Weightman and the colossal Sam Darcy.
The rout of the Bombers marked the fourth time in five weeks the Bulldogs have kicked more than 100 points.
Even in a close defeat to Gold Coast in the Darwin humidity last week, the Bulldogs still managed to kick 14.12 (96).
"We were a little bit shorter (against Essendon)," Beveridge said.
"We knew that we're going to need to use a ball a certain way ... I thought our players really made good decisions, executed well and that mattered, especially with Sam not there."
The Bulldogs will have a light week on the track ahead of a trip to face Geelong, and former teammate Bailey Smith, at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night.
