BROWNLOW medallist Matt Rowell isn't likely to return from his badly broken finger until round four, given Gold Coast's early bye.
Rowell suffered the break – which appeared to be around the knuckle – while representing Victoria in the AAMI AFL Origin match on February 14.
"He smashed it, the docs were saying he did a good job of it. It was a little bit of a complex procedure I think, but they did a great job, and he's on the mend now," Suns skipper Noah Anderson told AFL.com.au.
"It's going all right. It's still a little bit grey, I think it'll be looking like post our first bye (round three). I'm no expert, but that's what they're thinking."
A return after Gold Coast's bye would see Rowell miss games against Geelong, West Coast and Richmond, with the Suns expected to comfortably beat both the Eagles and Tigers regardless of whether their star was playing, and a strong chance of going toe-to-toe with the Cats.
Anderson said the football-hungry Rowell will have to be carefully managed, given his eagerness to return as soon as possible.
"He had surgery down here (Melbourne), and he's been staying with his mum and his family, so they're treating him like a king, I presume," Anderson said with a laugh.
"Especially [given it's] his hand, he'll be trying to get into drills and all that sort of stuff.
"It's a long year, we've got guys who can help fill his spot, and it'll be a good opportunity for us."
Gold Coast already has nine players on its injury list at this early stage of the year.
Jy Farrar (knee) is likely to be available for Opening Round, while Charlie Ballard (ACL), Jake Rogers (hamstring), Max Knobel (ankle) and Caleb Lewis (back) are 3-5 weeks away.
Elliott Himmelberg (ACL in May last year) and draftees Jai Murray (bone stress in his leg) and Beau Addinsall (hamstring) have long-term injuries.