Adelaide captain Rory Sloane is recovering from successful surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.

The midfielder suffered the injury in the final quarter of Saturday’s win over Richmond and had surgery on Wednesday morning.

“The surgeon is pleased with how it all went and after an initial period of rest, Rory will begin his rehabilitation,” Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.

“Initially that will involve partial weight-bearing with crutches before increasing his movement next week.”

Senior Coach Matthew Nicks praised Sloane’s positivity in the face of his latest challenge which will sideline him for the rest of the season.

“It (extent of the injury) wasn’t confirmed until the next day when he had scans, but the experts do have a hunch on these things,” Nicks said.

“And one thing I did find amazing about Sloaney, and this is where he’s such an incredible leader, he put the team first even though in that moment post-game he probably had an idea of what had happened.

“He put the team first and was smiling with his teammates, getting around each other, saying ‘this is a great team win’.

“I was able to catch him straight after the game on the ground and we looked at each other and knew it was more than likely (an ACL injury) but you wouldn’t have known it in the changerooms.

“That’s the sign of an outstanding leader and that’s what we’re going to miss for the remainder of the season.

“I wish him all the best because he will go to work, he’s the ultimate professional and will do whatever he can to get himself back fitter and faster and stronger.

“That’s probably going to be 12 months, he’ll probably try to make it nine knowing him, but we’ll be cautious with that and we will talk at the end of the year around what he wants to do and what he sees is best for the footy club when it comes to who has the ‘c’ next to their name.”