For the third straight year, dual Brownlow medallist Ablett's season has been ended prematurely, with the brilliant midfielder set to undergo surgery on his left shoulder – the same troublesome body part that caused him to miss large chunks of both 2014 and 2015.

As expected, Rischitelli will need a knee reconstruction after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the match – coincidentally Rischitelli's 100th appearance for the Suns since defecting from the Lions.

Rischitelli turns 31 next January and is contracted until the end of 2017. The Suns are hopeful the experienced onballer will be able to play a significant part of next season.

Ablett, 32, is contracted until the end of 2018, but may have captained the Suns for the last time. He retained the leadership this year despite speculation star forward Tom Lynch would take the role.

The news exacerbates a horror year of injuries for the Suns, with Jaeger O'Meara and David Swallow yet to play a senior game this year, and Rory Thompson, Adam Saad, Aaron Hall, and Touk Miller among others who have missed football during the season.

Suns football operations manager Marcus Ashcroft said the results of scans on Monday were worse than initially hoped.

"Gary's shoulder is not as good as we first thought. Initially we thought it mightn't have been as bad but scans today confirmed he'll miss the remainder of the year," Ashcroft said.

"It's clearly a very disappointing result for Gary and the club but we will make sure Gary gets the surgery and treatment required to ensure Gary returns in 2017."

Ablett expressed his disappointment via the club's website.

"Injuries are part of the game and it's frustrating that I will miss the rest of the year, in particular after we've worked hard to get back to playing a much more competitive style of footy," Ablett said.

But he hoped the club's young leaders would hold the fort in absence of he and Rischitelli.

"We're building a strong culture of leadership and accountability on and off the field. While Michael and I will still play that role off the field, I have no doubt that the team, led by our vice-captains Tom Lynch, Steven May and Dion Prestia will continue holding each other to account."

Ashcroft expressed confidence that vice-captain Rischitelli, who has a year to run on his contract, would continue, saying he had led from the front during another difficult year for the club, which has again been ruined by injuries to key players.

"He has really been the heartbeat of our club for many, many years so the plans we'll put in place for Rischa will see him get back and play next season. We're pretty confident of that."