Adelaide's worst fears have been confirmed with star forward Jason Porplyzia to potentially miss the rest of 2011 with the shoulder injury he suffered in the opening minutes of the season.
The absolute best-case scenario for the 26-year-old could see him ready to return for the final month of the home-and-away season after he decided to undergo a full reconstruction on his right shoulder on Thursday.
"We won't have a more definite timeframe until after the surgery and about a month of rehabilitation," said Crows footballer operations general manager Phil Harper.
"We all hope the surgery goes well and then Jason can focus on his recovery."
"It's disappointing news but we will support him and help him get back because he's an outstanding young man and footballer."
Things began brightly for Porplyzia when he kicked the Crows' first goal in their eventual win over the Hawks at AAMI Stadium but within minutes he had to be helped from the field after hurting his shoulder laying a tackle.
The victory over the Hawks came at a massive cost for the Crows with David McKay to miss between eight and 10 weeks after also hurting a shoulder and Rory Sloane suffering fractures to the jaw and a thumb that will rule him out for six weeks.
After having the bye this weekend, Adelaide will be hoping to regain big man Kurt Tippett from an ankle injury when they take on Fremantle at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, April 9.
Porplyzia is no stranger to shoulder problems having battled through the 2008 season with a shoulder that dislocated several times during games before finally undergoing a reconstruction when Adelaide's season was over.
The following year Porplyzia had his best season, booting 57 goals as he finished runner-up to Bernie Vince in the best and fairest and receiving a nomination for the All-Australian squad only to miss out when the final team was picked.