Melbourne have been dealt a massive blow with Tayla Harris ruled out for the entire AFLW season.
Harris suffered a shoulder injury during Saturday night’s season-opening win over Geelong and subsequent scans have revealed she will need surgery, AFL Media reports.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tayla Harris suffers worrying shoulder injury.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
The 27-year-old had left shoulder surgery in December and had the joint heavily strapped in the Round 1 win.
She required treatment on her already heavily strapped shoulder after an innocuous incident in the first quarter, then again after receiving a strong tackle in the third term.
Harris was hooked at three-quarter time of the two-point win for what she called “precautionary” reasons, playing down the injury after the match.
“Obviously I’ve had some shoulder issues along the way, and just another little incident, it’s round one,” Harris told the Channel 7 after the match.
“The girls are doing an awesome job, I feel like it’s an opportunity to watch the show. Yeah, today it is (precautionary).”
Harris managed her injury, then a quad issue, in pre-season but was cleared for Saturday night’s game.
When asked if the forward was “underdone” and if it was risky playing her, coach Mick Stinear said: “No, didn’t see any risk playing her.
“I think once we got the all-clear from the quad, she has done a lot of training in pre-season and having that surgery back in December, a really solid few months of rehab and a lot of skills and fundamentals.
“No, I feel like she was ready to play tonight. Probably just some unfortunate moments that she’s had a bit of a flare-up.
“But we’ll review and find out, but very comfortable with her taking the field tonight.”
– With AAP
