Wayne Milera will be sidelined for 6-9 months after undergoing successful surgery to repair the patella tendon in his left knee.

Milera suffered the injury in a tackle during the second quarter of Saturday’s AFL trial game against Port Adelaide and had surgery that afternoon.

The 23-year-old was released from hospital on Sunday and will spend the next 14 days recovering at home before starting his rehabilitation.

“A ruptured patella tendon is quite an uncommon injury in AFL,” Adelaide Head of Performance Matt Hass said.

“It’s obviously disappointing for Wayne to face another long-term rehabilitation process after what he went through in 2020.

“Wayne is an absolute professional and there is no doubt he will attack his rehabilitation the same way and we will throw our arms around him and support him as much as we can.”

The other injury to come from Saturday’s trial games against Port Adelaide was a left syndesmosis injury to Ben Davis in the SANFL game.

Davis will have further scans this week to determine the extent of the injury and the most appropriate course of treatment.

Matt Crouch and Tom Doedee – who both missed the weekend’s matches – will train this week in a bid to be available to play at either SANFL or AFL level this weekend. The SANFL team plays Norwood on Saturday and the AFL team plays Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Crouch reported groin soreness last week which was associated with his off-season hip surgery while Doedee has been managing a groin injury for the past fortnight.

David Mackay, who was concussed in Adelaide’s internal trial game on February 20, has been ruled out of this weekend’s action due to lingering symptoms and won’t be available to play until he passes the AFL’s concussion protocol.

Daniel Talia continues to increase his training loads and progress in his rehabilitation from post-season knee surgery and is set to rejoin main training as soon as this week with an eye to being available to play in the early rounds of the season.

Brayden Cook’s rehabilitation from a shoulder reconstruction last year is continuing and he remains on track to be available for a return to play in Round Five.