VERSATILE big man Stef Martin will miss the rest of the season due to a hip injury.

Martin has been placed on the long-term injury list and is due to have surgery next week.

This will give him the opportunity to complete a full pre-season entering into 2011.

The 23-year-old has played 29 matches, but made just two appearances this season, after being troubled by ongoing hip issues in 2010.

It has been a frustrating year for Martin, as he showed genuine promise in 2008/09.

“Stef has been troubled by a hip injury for a fair portion of the season,” General manager of football Chris Connolly told melbournefc.com.au.

“The best course of action was to have surgery to impinge his hip now, as this will give him adequate time to recover to complete a critic mass of the 2011 pre-season campaign.”

Martin was selected at No.3 in the 2008 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (held in December 2007).

He made his AFL debut against the Brisbane Lions in round 14, 2008.

Martin has a year to run on his current contract, after he signed a two-year deal in 2009.