Bryce Mortimer's campaign came to a sickening end when he broke his tibia and fibula in the first half of the Demons' clash at Bright last Saturday, which forced the game to be abandoned.

Coach Ricky Petts said it shocked everyone to see the experienced defender go down given how highly regarded he is within the club.

"The sad thing is Bryce is a consistent member of our team and we're looking at playing deep in finals, so I think that will hurt him the most that he won't be out there with us during that time. He loves playing finals football and rises for those big games," Petts said.

"It's a big loss for us and we also know the toll it's going to take on him.

"The club is also doing a couple of fundraisers for him because it's well documented he's got a young family that he's going to have to support and we don't know how he's going to go with work for a while."

ALSO IN SPORT:

Bright donated around $2000 raised from the club's draw during the clash to Mortimer to help with his recovery.

First-year player Will Graham will be given an opportunity in the Demons' back line to cover the enormous loss of Mortimer.

Milawa is also without full back Kris Allan, who dislocated his ankle against Benalla All Blacks in round 12, but he's expected back before finals.

"We debuted Will in the back line last week with Bryce, so we want to give him a couple of games to get comfortable," Petts said.

"We're hoping Chris can be back for the Tarrawingee game (on August 7).

"Luckily we've got the depth at the club to bring guys in who we think will do the job in the backline."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: