Fyfe requires surgery to repair the injury but will be in Melbourne on Monday night for the Brownlow Medal count, where he is expected to figure strongly. Nat Fyfe will need surgery to fix his broken leg. Credit:Getty Images Football operations manager Chris Bond said the procedure would be "fairly minor". "Given the duration of the player off season period, our medical advice at this stage is that the recovery and rehabilitation process will not affect Nat's 2016 pre-season." The Dockers midfield star needed "assistance" to get through the game against the Hawks - and he had his leg wrapped in ice at quarter-time breaks.

He spent much of the first term on the bench as Hawthorn opened up a 19-point lead and had just two touches in that opening quarter. He clearly wasn't right and there was no hiding it when he had set such a high standard for the rest of the season. During the time Fyfe was able to go on to the ground in that first 30 minutes, it looked as though his season and therefore the Dockers' season, would end without much of a fight. But it was as if the injured Fyfe that has existed for much of the second half of this season was subbed out of the game at the first break; and the one that excited crowds for the first 13 rounds - and who may yet claim a famous Brownlow Medal win, emerged. The high-flying marks may not have been there, but the hard in-and-under play was.

As the Dockers stormed home at the start of the final term and threatened to run over the top of the Hawks when they got back to within nine points, Fyfe was at the fore. He finished the game with 24 possessions - a game high 16 of those contested - six tackles and nine clearances. Fyfe had only played three games since round 17, missing two through the inflammation in his fibula, a condition known as periostitis, and enjoying a rest between the qualifying final win against the Sydney Swans and the preliminary final. He needed medical help to get through the game against the Swans and starred from the opening bounce, collecting 32 possessions over a solid four-quarter performance. He needed crutches and some compression on his leg after that game.