But coach James Hird said the club was hopeful Hurley, who has been in brilliant form and kicked three goals in Essendon's 74-point loss to Carlton last week, would benefit from a rest after carrying the injury for three games. 

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""Hurls has got a sore foot. It's a stress reaction, so it's not a stress fracture,"" Hird said at Windy Hill on Friday.

""We have picked it up before it has got serious so we think a week or two, hopefully, will ease him back into training and then into playing.

""That's why we have made the decision now, so that we haven’t finished his year.

""[He might miss] two weeks, it might be three weeks, we'll see how it goes. We want to make sure that the heat comes out of his foot and that he's not playing sore.""

Hurley injured his foot in Essendon's surprise win over Geelong in round 15, having already missed three weeks in the middle of the season with a calf complaint. Hird said the injuries were unrelated.

""It's just the wear and tear of football,"" he said.

""Hurls is still a young player and young players get these kind of things.

""But we're making the decision not to play him this week not because he has broken down but to make sure we do the right thing by the player for his long-term career.""