Hawthorn forward Jarryd Roughead underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove a melanoma in his bottom lips. With pending medical tests, the Hawks ruled out the 28-year-old star forward indefinitely, but the team is hopeful about his return in 2-3 weeks.

Roughead informed the club’s doctor late last week that he had spotted a lesion on his lip which had not cleared up. He was then advised to see a skin specialist which gave results positive of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

Players at Waverley Park base were told of the news on Wednesday morning and subsequently made the club’s coaches and board aware about Roughead’s absence. Hawks general manager of football operation Chris Fagan said that Roughead was doing well and the “only concern has been his wellbeing and his health” as per the Age.

"What we do know is that there is still a few more tests that they need to do on the skin around the lip. We'll probably know those results mid to late next week. Hopefully they'll be all clear,” Fagan told reporters at Waverley Park.

However, the club is unsure how long Roughead will be out of football with a best case scenario of having the forward return in non-contact training as early as next week.

“If everything goes well, he might be available in two or three weeks time. Once he gets the all clear, he could start training next week. Obviously, he won’t be able to do any contact because you don’t want to get that wound knocked around at all,” Fagan added via PerthNow.com. The Hawks GM was also stunned about the news as he believed that melanomas are not the greatest things to have.

The Hawks will already be without key defensive post James Frawley with an injured shoulder for a blockbuster match against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday night. Roughead has played 219 games since being drafted in 2004 as No. 2 overall pick.

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