Suns lose Pearce Hanley to injury again

Another cruel injury blow to Pearce Hanley has left Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew scrambling for fit players to complete the AFL season.

Hanley reminded Dew just how much he's missed him this year with a terrific performance across the first three quarters in Saturday's 74-point defeat to Richmond.

He was comfortably the Suns' best player across that period, racking up 23 touches and three clearances.

But the 29-year-old didn't return to the field after he was seen applying ice to his hamstring at the final change.

Hanley was playing only his third match for the season. He injured his shoulder in pre-season, hurt it again in round three and finally made his return last week against Melbourne.

Dew expects he won't be seen again until 2019.

"I'm shattered for him, really," Dew said.

"He's worked so hard to come back from his shoulder.

"He's done a mountain of work so to lose him today is disappointing for him, first and foremost, but for us, we've missed him all year.

"And I think there was passages of play here today that we thought, 'Gee, we would have loved that for a lot of the year'."

Hanley hasn't had much luck since moving from Brisbane.

He missed a chunk of last season following the death of his terminally ill brother, Tommy, in his native Ireland.

The Suns finished with only two fit men on the bench against the Tigers, with rookie Will Brodie also hurting his hamstring.

Neither is likely to play in next week's Q-Clash against the Lions or Gold Coast's season-closer in Geelong.

Brodie and Hanley join a lengthy injury list that includes Tom Lynch, Sam Day, Aaron Hall, Peter Wright, Jack Martin and Rory Thompson.