Robbie Gray’s still not 100 per cent after hand surgery, so he’ll sit out the game against Gold Coast Suns on Sunday

Port Adelaide star forward Robbie Gray has poured cold water on any thoughts of returning against the Gold Coast on Sunday.

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PORT Adelaide midfielder Robbie Gray has revealed he won’t play on Sunday against Gold Coast as he continues to recover from surgery to his broken hand.

Gray broke two bones in his hand during the Power’s 16-point win over North Melbourne in Round Six.

He told SEN Breakfast radio that while his hand is feeling “not too bad”, the decision had been made that it was still too early for him to return to football.

“I won’t play this weekend … made the decision a bit earlier in the week, (it’s) still pretty soon after the surgery, it’s only been a few weeks, so we’ll just aim for next week against Hawthorn in Tassie,” he told SEN.

Gray said it would be the three-week mark since his surgery on Sunday and to return in that time frame would have been best case scenario.

“I’ve never had a broken hand and you never know how these things are going to pull up and hands are pretty important obviously on game day,” he said.

Gray said the decision not to play had been made in consultation with the coaches and medical staff and he would train again on Thursday morning and continue to work on his ball handling and get his body right for next weekend’s game against the Hawks.

Port Adelaide is grappling with a long injury list, with Brad Ebert ruling himself out for a second week as he deals with the effects of being knocked out against Collingwood.

Co-captain Tom Jonas has set himself a Round 10 return after a nagging calf injury while fellow skipper Ollie Wines could spend up to another month on the sidelines with a broken ankle.

But Gray’s imminent return will be pleasing to both fans and coaching staff.

Hamish Hartlett and Robbie Gray on the training track at Alberton. Picture SARAH REED

Gray said both Charlie Dixon (broken leg) and Hamish Hartlett (ACL and hamstring) were both also preparing for returns to footy.

He said Dixon could return as early as after Port’s bye round in mid-June, while Hartlett was impressing on the training track.

“(Hartlett’s) looking really good,” Gray said.

“I’ve been running with Harts for a week or two and he’s looking really strong and really fit as he always does.

“He’s just had a wretched run, really unlucky, with the hammy since coming back (from his knee reconstruction), but he’s looking really fit and as soon as he gets no soreness and he hasn’t had any for a while now, they’ve just been slowly building him back up, so he’ll be back in the next couple of weeks.”