Richmond's Andrew Raines and Hawthorn's Stuart Dew appeared headed for spells on the sidelines after they suffered leg injuries in round two AFL games over the weekend.

Raines dislocated his left kneecap when brought down in a tackle during the third quarter of Sunday night's loss to North Melbourne at the MCG, and cut a dejected figure on the bench with a heavily bandaged knee during the last quarter.

The defender would appear headed for at least a couple of games out, but coach Terry Wallace said the Tigers would not know the extent of the injury until Monday.

Similarly, Hawthorn are awaiting news on the severity of Dew's hamstring injury, but coach Alastair Clarkson conceded his recruit could be sidelined from action for some time.

Dew clutched at his left hamstring during Saturday night's match against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval, which was a dent on an otherwise great night for the Hawks, whose 15-point win retained them top spot on the ladder.

Clarkson admitted Dew, recruited in the off-season to bolster the Hawks' experience, would not play North Melbourne on Saturday and could be sidelined for up to a month.

"You all saw it on the tele, that it is going to be more than a week," Clarkson said.

"I don't know whether it is going to be two weeks, four weeks or six weeks.

"Hopefully he is going to be back sooner rather than later."

Hawthorn will not know the severity of the injury until Dew undergoes scans early this week.

Dew, 28, trained hard over the summer and shed plenty of weight to get fit enough to play for his second club after 180 games for Port Adelaide from 1997 to 2006.

Essendon will not take any risks with young running player Courtenay Dempsey, who injured his hamstring in the 99-point defeat to Geelong, given his bad history of hamstring troubles.

"Obviously, with Courtenay, we're going to have to be very conservative with that and I would have thought it would be at least two to four weeks (out), depending on how he pulls up (Monday)," Bombers coach Matthew Knights said.

Melbourne got some much-needed good news when goalsneak Aaron Davey was cleared of serious injury after hurting his left foot while landing awkwardly against the Western Bulldogs.

The Demons said Davey had suffered moderate ligament damage and would have more assessment, but he would appear unlikely to be available for Sunday's difficult assignment against Geelong at Skilled Stadium.

Collingwood are confident young defender Tyson Goldsack will play Richmond on Sunday despite a heavy collision in Friday night's narrow loss to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Goldsack suffered a broken nose and concussion in the collision and also appeared to have his knee buckle underneath him.

A Magpies spokesman said the 20-year-old, who enjoyed an excellent debut season in 2007, had been cleared of any knee trouble and was expected to play the Tigers at the MCG.

Forward Travis Cloke rolled an ankle during the game, but has also been cleared to play.

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