The Collingwood Football Club wishes to confirm that young forward Sean Rusling was told by his surgeon on Wednesday that his injured left shoulder requires reconstructive surgery. The surgery is a result of an incident that took place during the second quarter of last Saturday’s round one clash between Collingwood and Fremantle at the MCG. “The surgeon confirmed on Wednesday that Sean requires a shoulder reconstruction,” Collingwood chief of football Geoff Walsh said. “How and when that happens will be decided over the next few days. It’s really disappointing for Sean given he’s been through this before.” .

21-year-old Rusling, who has played 17 games for Collingwood since being drafted from West Adelaide with the 23rd overall pick in the 2004 AFL Draft, underwent reconstructive surgery on the same shoulder just prior to the start of the 2007 season.

He made it back into the Collingwood side for the round 20 clash against Melbourne last year, before booting four goals and taking nine marks in an exceptional display against Sydney at the MCG in round 21. He backed that up with an equally impressive three-goal performance against the Swans in the elimination final two weeks later.

Rusling has endured a terrible run with injury since playing his first AFL game in round 10 of the 2005 season against Hawthorn. He suffered a broken collarbone late in his debut season when he played five games, and then a pre-season shoulder injury, which required arthroscopic surgery, curtailed his progress in 2006 before he produced some promising performances late in that season.