PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Tyson Goldsack has revealed an innocuous tackle was the likely cause of a season ending injury to forward Jeremy Finlayson.

The club confirmed on Tuesday that Finlayson had suffered a small laceration to his spleen, and while he would not need surgery, the 28-year-old will need a period of rest.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Goldsack explained that Finlayson’s condition deteriorated after the game and scans had revealed the extent of the injury.

Goldsack also spoke about the potential for fellow forward Todd Marshall to play against Richmond on Saturday night, who could replace the injured Lachie Jones in the backline, and how vital the result will be this week given the closeness of the competition.

Tyson Goldsack on Jeremy Finlayson being ruled out for the remainder of the season with a small spleen laceration:

“There’s a small but stable laceration in his spleen. He didn't really report anything during the game - kind of felt soreness, just generally, but continued playing. It wasn't till after the game that he reported that it was still pretty sore. He spoke to the doctors yesterday and they sent him in for a scan, and they found that, so he will miss a portion (of the season) now, and just make sure that he recovers the way that he needs to recover and make sure his health is the number one priority.

“Thinking back, he said there was an incident in the game where he got tackled, but there was nothing untoward in it. He just kind of felt soreness that you would feel from a knock and then wasn’t until later after the game and later that night that he felt some more discomfort. And that's when he reported it to the docs.”

Tyson Goldsack on Finlayson not requiring surgery, but missing several weeks of football:

“It's a long term (but) as long as it takes to make sure he's 100%. I think it's an injury where you want to get it 100% right before you try and race back or you make him feel any pressure to come back and perform. It's about his health and wellbeing first. We had Jackson Mead have (a ruptured spleen) a couple years ago and took him a while to recover from that. And I just don't think you want to put pressure on players to have to feel like they need to be raced back in any kind of timeline. (There’s no need for) surgery. It’s a small laceration, it's stable, and it'll just heal naturally.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether Todd Marshall could play this week after suffering a hip injury on Sunday:

“He caught the full weight of Charlie Dixon on the weekend, which nobody wants, especially your own teammates. So he’s sore and he'll just remain a test for the remainder of the week and see how it progresses over the next couple of days.

“It certainly was uncomfortable for him early on. But then it didn't really get as bad as what he potentially thought it was. So, he'll just kind of go the next couple of days and… then assess it later in the week, see if he can run and train and do the things he has to do to perform. And if he can, then we'll test him. And we'll think about it. If he can't, then he'll have to rest.

“He's a chance - we'll leave him with a chance in a test. But the chance of him getting up is probably more unlikely than likely, I'd say, unless he continues to progress.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether Esava Ratugolea could return to the AFL line-up and be considered as a second ruck in Jeremy Finlayson’s absence:

“We're open to whatever we need to do to get the right matchup. We have Ollie Lord still there that rucks for us as well and competes really well. We've got Dante Visentini who has been rucking really well in the SANFL, so we've got some options to go with. We just had to get to match committee and find out who's available first. And then what kind of makeup we need on game day.

“We've played some really good footy with only two talls over the last couple of weeks. But if he keeps playing the way he played on the weekend, and forcing his way in, then we'd have no choice but to pick him. Obviously, Lachie Jones goes out under concussion protocols so there's a spot available there. Whether or not it's Sav or somebody else we'll wait and see.”

Tyson Goldsack on who else is in the frame to replace Lachie Jones, who has entered concussion protocols:

“Dylan Williams has been playing some good footy, Josh Sinn hasn't played but he'll come back this week, and Jase Burgoyne played as a defender most of the game on the weekend. So, there's some magnets that we can shift around if we need, but we just have to wait and see how our guys pull up from the game first and go from there.”

Tyson Goldsack on how disappointing it was to lose to the Suns, with the opportunity to move into the top four beckoning:

“It just shows how important each game is with the state of the ladder at the moment, you have to treat every game as vital and we know it is. The four points can shift you from third down to 12th, or whatever it might be, so we know we've got a big game coming up this week. We like to play at home and we'd like to play well, and we're hoping to do just that.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether Jason Horne-Francis has been spoken to about some of the free kicks he gave away at the weekend:

“They have had conversations with him more to check in on how he's doing, how he was doing before the game, during the game, how can we better support him and then alternatively, how he can better support his players around him and his teammates. They're open discussions and he knows that he wasn't at his best. And we know we weren't at our best either, so it kind of went hand in hand.

“The conversations happened in in the moment. It was on the bench with the players on the ground, after the game, so you know, they're a close knit midfield and they have those conversations without the coaches having prompted them, which is kind of a sign of a maturing midfield I think.”