Sam Docherty during the Carlton and Adelaide melee after a late hit on Jacob Weitering during the round 15 match at Marvel Stadium on June 27, 2021. Picture: Getty Images

CARLTON co-captain Sam Docherty is counting the cost of an all-in melee during the club's heated victory over Adelaide, suffering a syndesmosis injury that could end his season during the ensuing wrestle.

Docherty, who was also fined a total of $3000 for two separate incidents as a result of becoming involved in the melee (watch it in the player below), rolled onto his ankle during the scuffle and underwent surgery to repair the damage on Wednesday.

The club has not ruled out Docherty returning at some stage later this year, despite just eight games remaining in Carlton's campaign, though the setback has undoubtedly put the wingman's season in jeopardy.

"He hurt it on the weekend during the wrestle," Carlton coach David Teague said on Thursday.

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"He just rolled back onto his ankle and suffered a low-grade syndesmosis injury, but it's needed surgery. He's aiming to come back before the end of the season, but we'll have to wait and see."

Docherty missed two consecutive seasons between 2018-19 after suffering back-to-back ACL injuries, with his latest syndesmosis problem stunting what had been a promising move to the wing in recent weeks.

"He knew he'd hurt himself, but he didn't think it was that," Teague said.

"Symptomatically, it didn't really show up like a syndesmosis injury until they went and got scans. It was a surprise, because we weren't expecting it.

"He was hobbling around, but that's been a trend of this injury. You can play out games and you feel alright, but when you cool down it gets quite sore. Unfortunately for us, he'll be unavailable for a while."

Ben Keays lands on Sam Docherty's foot during the round 15 melee between Carlton and Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on June 27, 2021. Picture: Getty Images

With ruckman Marc Pittonet also set to spend a lengthy period on the sidelines with an ankle problem, and with project player Alex Mirkov suffering a knee injury in the VFL recently, Levi Casboult will come back into the frame for selection this weekend.

Casboult was unavailable last week after serving a one-match VFL ban, meaning youngster Tom De Koning played as the sole ruckman against Adelaide, but the veteran could return ahead of a crucial match-up against in-form Fremantle big man Sean Darcy.

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"We'll have a look and see how Levi trains today, but it's definitely a possibility," Teague said.

"I liked our look forward of the ball last week. I thought Jack Martin and Jack Silvagni gave us a great contest in the ruck and Tom De Koning did a really good job. It was a different look and it was one we haven't gone to in the past.

"It's something we may use again throughout the year, but Levi would be a strong chance to come back in this week."