The AFL website yesterday said the 20-year-old will take about six to eight weeks to recover from the injury, meaning his preseason will be impacted worse than first thought, with no return date set as yet.

Earlier in the week, the club was hopeful Thurlow would be back at training after the Christmas break and there would be no ‘‘significant’’ disruption to his preseason.

Thurlow suffered the injury after  copping an accidental elbow at training on Saturday and luckily he avoided surgery.

The Tasmanian, seen as a long-term replacement for Corey Enright off half-back, was also being viewed this year as an option further up the ground.

The 16th pick in the 2012 national draft has played 10 games since his 2013 debut.

He played six matches this year, including Geelong’s two finals.

He averaged eight touches and three marks a game, spending time as the substitute throughout the season.