Richmond youngster Jack Higgins will miss most of the 2020 season as he prepares to undergo brain surgery.
The 20-year-old had originally been in hospital to recover from a brain bleed that had been found after he had complained of headaches following a VFL match earlier this year.
It was discovered Higgins was born with certain blood vessels in his head that were prone to bleeding.
It was hoped that the issues would be solved by a less invasive surgery, but after consultation with the medical team, it was agreed that the youngster would undergo a more serious procedure.
MORE: Melbourne lock away veteran Nathan Jones until 2020
Higgins will require six months recovery from the surgery, and has been told that he will be able to resume his career late next year.
Richmond general manager of football, Neil Balme, said the situation was challenging, but the Tigers' expectations were that Higgins will still make a full recovery.
"No one is underestimating how uncomfortable this is for the poor kid, and while they were hoping for a different procedure, that hasn't quite fixed everything," Balme told AFL.com.au.
"The positive out of all this is that there is still the same expectation for him – that he will fully recover and return to football when he is ready.
"With brain surgery, no one can be certain with recovery timeframes.
"It is obviously very challenging, but again, the positives out of it are that once he gets through it, he will be as good as new."
Higgins was originally taken in with pick 17 in the 2017 national draft, slotting 15 goals in his 20 AFL games of his debut season, as well as winning the AFL goal of the year in 2018.
