Ben Brown will be referred to a specialist for a possible arthroscope thus ruling him out for the remainder of the season. 

The North forward was injured after an awkward tackle in the game against Geelong at the GABBA in Round 10 and hasn’t played since. 

“Our medical and strength and conditioning teams have worked very closely with Ben and had progressed him into some light running, but feel the best course of action going forward is to get a specialist’s opinion and have the knee fixed up if required,” North GM football, Brady Rawlings, explained.

“With only three games to go until the end of the year for us, some players have simply run out of time to get their fitness back up to the levels required to play, and Ben is one of those.”

Curtis Taylor is also out for the remainder of the season after injuring his knee in a collision in Round 9. 

“He’s running at the moment, he’s straight line stuff is okay but to get up over the next two-to-three weeks we thought was going to be a bit of a push and it wasn’t a risk we’re willing to take with such a highly talented youngster,” Rawlings said. 

Rawlings praised the 20-year-old’s development and said he is an important player for the club moving forward. 

“He’s one of our really talented youngsters, he’s had a really good season this year. 

“He’s built on last season where he got a little bit of a taste but he’s taken his game to another level this year … we love his work-rate, his efforts forward of the ball have been really good for us in the air and at ground level. 

“We see a really big future for him and we’re really happy with some of the youth we’ve got at the club and hopefully they can play a lot of footy together over the next few years.”