Coach Marc Greig said it was “shattering” news for the club.

The young gun suffered a hyper extension of his knee last week and the club medicos thought that would be the extent of it. Unfortunately, scans showed an extremely small tear, but nonetheless it will require surgery.

Buckwell will see a knee specialist next Wednesday.

In other team news, Matt Austin will miss 1-2 weeks after MRI scans cleared him of any fractures in his shoulder, but it did uncover a slight tear in one of the muscles. Given his previous shoulder reconstruction, the club will be cautious.

Tom Taurau strained his hamstring at training during the week while Tim Speirs has been left out of the side

Coming into the side for Saturday’s VFL clash with Port Melbourne at Eureka Stadium is young ruckman Lloyd Meek, lively forward Jacob Cooke-Harrison while Ben Simpson and Xavier Vearing will add to the Roosters defensive stocks.

Nick Weightman will undergo a fitness test on his ankle but Greig said it looked likely he would play.

Greig said Meek was a key inclusion, having provided genuine height around the ground and plenty of energy at the contest in its win over Northern Blues.

“He’ll be important,” Greig said.

“I’d like to think he sees it as more of a challenge than playing against some of the youngsters.”

Greig added that quelling Port Melbourne’s ability to score from the stoppage would be a key part to the weekend’s clash.

While former AFL-listed player Jordan Lisle will have to be stopped in attack, his 31 goals for the season puts him equal-second on the VFL goal-kicking list.