Hawthorn star Brad Sewell could be forced to spend another round on the sidelines after he had his appendix removed this week.

Sewell woke with stomach pains on Wednesday and, after a check-up with Hawthorn's doctor, underwent surgery that day.

The Hawks' reigning best-and-fairest winner is currently recuperating from shoulder surgery, which has kept him out since round 10.

The Hawks do not play again until July 13 — against Sydney at the MCG — but the club admits the 24-year-old midfielder remains in doubt because of both bouts of surgery.

Fellow onballer Luke Hodge also had his appendix removed while injured, in May, but that had no impact on his season as he was sidelined by a hamstring injury at the time.

Essendon's Ricky Dyson also had his appendix removed in May and only returned to the senior side last weekend.

- Just 91 days after a knee injury threatened to end his career, Fremantle's Luke Webster will line-up in the WAFL today in a bid to keep his AFL dream alive.

Webster underwent the same radical knee surgery as Sydney's Nick Malceski when the popular Docker ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee for the third time on April 5.

Given that he was in the final year of his contract with the Dockers, Webster knew it was his only choice if he was to add to his 33 AFL games.

The revolutionary surgery, which involves using an artificial ligament instead of grafting tissue from elsewhere in the body, cuts the usual year-long recovery period down to about three months.

Webster will play for East Perth against East Fremantle and said he was confident his reconstructed knee would hold-up to the rigours of competitive football.

"I definitely feel ready to go," Webster said.

"This time (the recovery) is a lot shorter obviously and I have not had the wastage in the leg (muscle) when you do it the other way."

"Obviously there are always going to be those nerves in the back of your head … but I feel just as confident coming back this weekend as I have with the past couple."

Webster, 26, has been in constant contact with Malceski during his recovery period.

Malceski returned to the Swans line-up in round eight, just 87 days after his reconstruction.

However, Webster was unsure whether their fast-tracked recovery would convince others to undergo the same procedure.

"It has been great to have Nick go through this process before me to be able to bounce things off him, but I have not really thought that my story is going to change the way footy goes," Webster said.

"But it would be great if we can hopefully both get through this year, and a lot of guys ahead if they do happen to do their ACLs they can go down this path and I would really recommend it if it is available to them."

Last month, Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said Webster would be given every opportunity to break back into the side should his WAFL form warrant a return.

"The main goal I set myself was to play some sort of footy this year and hopefully play some good footy, get some good form and hopefully the rest will look after itself," Webster said.

"I have had that taste, 33 games now, and I really want to build on that and I think I have still got a lot to give Fremantle and the AFL."

AAP