Quade Cooper, fly half for Australia and the Queensland Reds suffered injuries to his shoulder and will need surgery that will cause him to miss at least 16 weeks of rugby action.

MRI scans showed on Tuesday the need to go under the knife after the scare against the Melbourne Rebels last Saturday when he fell on his shoulder in a tackle. The surgery is to repair a Grade 3 AC joint injury, according to the team’s official site, Reds Rugby.

Cooper is expected to return in September and during his time out from the game will as well undergo arthroscopic surgery to clean up loose cartilage in his hip.

“Quade is obviously disappointed to miss the rest of the season, but he knows these two operations will bring him back to full health,” said Reds head coach Richard Graham in the same article.

“A player of Quade’s ability rarely has extended breaks from the game, so if there is a silver lining to this injury layoff it is that this will allow him time to refresh and repair his body in preparation for the 2015 season.”

The Reds fell to the Rebels, 30-27 in the Round 14 match last Saturday and will have a bye this week. They will face the Highlanders on May 30.