Confirmation of the injury earlier this week has devastated the tight-knit playing group.

“It’s terribly disappointing for him, it’s shattering for him, he’s had such a great year and he’s a good kid,” Pies’ president Tony Goodison said of the likeable forward-midfielder.

Sharrock was injured at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter in the Pies’ match against Wodonga Raiders on June 23.

He was trying to spoil Brad St John in front of the coaches’ boxes and went to ground in a seemingly innocuous incident.

He was stretchered off, but hopes were initially high it wasn’t a serious injury.

Sharrock wrote his name into Pies’ folklore in late April when he straightened his own broken nose and returned to the field.

“I went to the toilets and had a towel that was covered in blood, so I sort of just gave it a push and I heard a little click and straight away, it was better and I could breathe and my face wasn’t as tense,” he said at the time.

“I went back to mum and said, ‘it feels amazing’.”

Sharrock would be a leading contender for the Pies’ best and fairest, which is saying something given the crack field he’s up against.

Just minutes before he was injured against Raiders, he took a mark which highlighted his rapid improvement.

Sharrock led out and despite having an opponent all over him, somehow held the ball above his head.

He’ll be sorely missed as the premiers chase the flag.

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