North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington has surgery to remove testicular tumour

North Melbourne coach David Noble has revealed how Ben Cunnington’s teammates are coping with the shock news their star teammate had a tumour removed this week.

North Melbourne star midfielder Ben Cunnington has undergone surgery to remove a testicular tumour.

The Roos on Wednesday revealed the lump was discovered on Monday and surgically removed on Tuesday, almost certainly ending his season.

Cunnington, 30, is awaiting the results of tests to find out whether the tumour is malignant.

The gun clearance-winner sat out the Roos’ trip to Gold Coast to play Essendon a fortnight ago to stay home with his two young children and pregnant wife, Belinda.

Kangaroos coach David Noble said he addressed the Ben Cunnington situation with his players and club staff on both Wednesday and Thursday.

“We are sending our best wishes to Ben and Belinda and their extended families. They have our love and support,” Noble said on Thursday.

“All those unfortunate circumstances, when they land, they are always difficult to deal with. We briefed the players as early as we could yesterday once we had worked through all the issues with Ben.

“We wish him all the best and hope for a speedy recovery.

Noble said there was a “range of emotions”, and stressed it was important the players and staff knew the club would support them as well as their superstar midfielder.

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Cunnington is awaiting the results of tests. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

North Melbourne football manager Brady Rawlings said Cunnington’s health was the priority in the wake of the shock find.

“This has all happened very quickly, but our focus is on Ben and his family right now as they deal with this news and allow him to recover fully,” he said.

“From the diagnosis earlier in the week up until this point, we’ve moved quickly to ensure Ben is in the right hands medically and that he and his family have the right support around them.

“We ask that everyone respects Ben and his family’s privacy as this is a private health matter.

“Due to the sensitive nature of this news, we ask that the same level of respect and privacy be afforded to Ben’s wider family, friends, teammates, coaches and staff.”

Noble said the players would navigate the situation in their own way, but hoped they would be ready for Saturday’s clash against Geelong in Tasmania.

“There’s always a range of emotions with these types of things. People, sometimes have had their own previous experiences, fortunate or unfortunate with these things,” Noble said.

“We just need to be diligent in making sure that internally our guys feel supported with any previous experiences that these things tend to bring up. We make sure we work really hard in the background to make sure we have those mechanisms in place.

“We had a chat about a few things this morning, gave our players a brief and now we are, not moving on without the sensitivity of it,. but getting ready for training and heading to Tassie and playing the Cats.

“If you address it, that’s the main thing, so the players feel like it’s OK to discuss things if they need to, to ask questions.

“I think that’s really important from a staff and players perspective that they have a sense of, it’s OK to move on with things and it’s OK to discuss things if you need to.

“We just need to be aware of that. We feel like we will get through today and by the time we end up in Tassie we will be ready to go.”

The Roo had another strong performance against the Blues last round. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

A number of AFL players have made full recoveries from testicular tumours in recent years including Carlton pair Sam Docherty and Sam Rowe, Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray and GWS Giant Jesse Hogan.

Cunnington, who is one of the Kangaroos’ best and most experienced players, was again in the mix for selection in the All-Australian squad of 40, after another excellent season.

He is considered one of the best hard ball winners in the competition, averaging 27 disposals and eight clearances a game across 15 matches in 2021.

But the Roos will prepare to be without Cunnington for the four remaining games of the regular season as the club rallies around the popular onballer.

He was at the forefront of the Roos’ win over Carlton on Saturday, racking up 27 possessions, but is set to miss their remaining matches against Geelong (BA), Richmond (MCG), Sydney Swans (Marvel) and Adelaide (Adelaide Oval).

His absence is expected to open up an expanded role for Will Phillips in the final few games who is expected to make a full recovery from a blood nose he suffered late in the win over the Blues.

Phillips was drafted with pick No.3 and has trained closely alongside Cunnington in his first season as part of plans to take over in the engine room when the hard nut retires.

Cunnington, who missed the bulk of last season with a serious back problem, said he wanted to help lead the team back into the finals in coming years.

“I’ve been feeling good and getting through every game, no hiccups so far touch wood,” Cunnington said.

“In terms of how long I have got left, I am feeling all right so hopefully I am around for our next premiership window.”