Exciting Coolamon midfielder Braeden Glyde is set for a extended stint on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in the Hoppers loss to Collingullie-Wagga.
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Glyde left the field early in the first term against the Demons and he took no further part in the contest.
Hoppers coach Gavin McMahon believed the early signs were pointing to Glyde spending up to two months on the sidelines.
"It's a pretty significant one," Glyde said.
"It could be a six to eight week hamstring, it's a pretty decent one."
Glyde's injury soured what was a largely impressive performance from the Hoppers against one of the premiership favourites.
The Hoppers only trailed by 10 points at three-quarter time and despite ending up losing by 56 points, McMahon felt it was a strong performance from his side.
"We played a good side which is great," he said.
"This is exactly what we wanted, in the first three rounds we've had Ganmain and 'Gullie so it's exactly what we were after.
"I think we showed plenty, we worked pretty hard and you could see our game style works.
"It's just a matter of doing it for a bit longer and I thought today was another improvement again from last week."
The Hoppers only had one on the bench for large periods of the game and McMahon agreed they just ran out of legs at the end of the contest.
"Yeah absolutely," he said.
"BJ (Glyde) did his hamstring in the middle of the first quarter and Joe (Redfern) rolled an ankle just after quarter time.
"The boys were pretty gassed but I couldn't be any prouder of them, they dug in and ripped in when they were completely gassed.
"It's bloody awesome to be honest, the effort not the result."
Nick Buchanan continued his successful transition forward with another four goals while Oscar Perrot also hit the scoreboard with two majors.
McMahon said it was good to see Buchanan continue his development as a forward and believed he's getting a bit better each week.
"It was great to see him get some," he said.
"He's a bit indicative of our whole side at the moment, they're getting a bit better each week and he's no different."
Buchanan wasn't the only strong performer for the Hoppers as McMahon credited the efforts of a number of their players.
"I thought our captain (Allister Clarke) he led from the front again," he said.
"He was pretty awesome and I thought some of our emerging players in Mitch King, Flynn Cook and Jett Buttifant all showed a lot again today.
"There's absolutely lots to like and whilst we didn't get the result, we're still pretty happy with how we're improving."
The Hoppers travel to Leeton on Saturday to face the Crows and McMahon said the main aim for his side was to continue their development.
"This group of boys have played three games together," he said.
"As much as we get excited and think we can win every game, we've got to remember we've played three games together.
"We're all new and we're still learning how each other plays, a new game style with a new coach.
"We're pretty happy with how we're tracking to be honest."
