NORTH Melbourne's David Hale will have surgery this week to repair a thumb he fractured when playing for VFL affiliate North Ballarat on Sunday.

Hale had kicked three goals in the first quarter of the 72-point win over Bendigo but was forced from the field soon after.

Dropped from the senior side after round 17, the 25-year-old had spent a month as a ruckman and forward at the lower level and was aiming for a recall for the Roos' clash with Port Adelaide this week.

Chief of football Donald McDonald confirmed the injury had ruled him out of a return.

"He's actually split the top of his thumb bone in half, so that's going to need surgery. They'll have to wire it," he told kangaroos.com.au.

"It will be a three-week injury, so at least it won't impact on his pre-season. It's just more of a nuisance for him."

Hale has kicked 22 goals from 16 AFL games this year, struggling to revisit the form that saw him boot 21 from six matches to finish 2008.

In May, he signed a three-year contract extension, and he followed that news with strong displays against Geelong (two goals and 11 marks) and Fremantle (five goals) but fell away from there.

McDonald said Hale was a casualty of the side's structure that preferred Hamish McIntosh and Todd Goldstein as ruckmen and settled Drew Petrie and Lachie Hansen in attack.

He added that the Roos' disappointing campaign had also had an impact.

"Haley just got squeezed out because we also are fortunate to have Hamish and Todd Goldstein that can go forward and kick goals," he said.

"He had games against Fremantle and Essendon where he was the difference. He had some great performances. Some of his games he got a hell of a lot of the ball but was maybe a little bit inaccurate.

"I'm sure there have been occasions where Haley might have been a bit disappointed with how things have gone. In saying that, the ball hasn't been inside our forward 50 as much as he would have liked [this season]."

Midfielder Leigh Harding's plan to make a late-season return from his hamstring injury has also fallen short.

Harding tore the muscle against Carlton in round 18 and McDonald said the 28-year-old's injury was severe.

"It was always going to be a case of whether he could come back through the VFL or not because of his conditioning," he said. "In the end it was decided he wasn't right."

McDonald added that half-back Jesse Smith had been given a fortnight away from the club to deal with his recent hamstring setback.

He has since made a promising return to his rehabilitation with an eye on the 2010 pre-season.