Matthew Lloyd has joined the chorus of AFL greats throwing their support behind Hawthorn’s Jarryd Roughead, who will miss the rest of the AFL season after suffering a recurrence of a melanoma.

Lloyd took to Twitter on Tuesday night to offer his prayers to the four-time premiership winner, whose career is on hold after a melanoma he had removed from his lower lip last year returned and spread to other parts of his body.

“Thinking of you @jr3502 (Jarryd Roughead). Prayers are with you”, Lloyd tweeted.

The tweet came after Hawthorn great Shane Crawford took to the social media platform earlier in the day

“I love @jr3502. Please send him positive messages with his melanoma battle.” he tweeted.

Almost every AFL club also offered their support to the four-time premiership winner over Twitter, while Joel Selwood, Jay Schulz and Steve Johnson were among others to post.

Others also found themselves rattled by an emotional Jordan Lewis on Tuesday night, who had Roughead as a best man at his wedding last October.

“My thoughts & best wishes are with Jarryd Roughead & his family. Stay strong. A brave effort tonight @JordanLewisO3,” Adelaide Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan posted.

“@JordanLewisO3 you’re a star mate and all our thoughts are with @jr3502 and all at the @HawthornFC,” two-time All-Australian and former 300-game Western Bulldogs veteran Rohan Smith posted.

Lewis told Fox Footy the news of the recurrence had hit Roughead harder than the original scare last year.

“It’s very serious – it’s extremely serious. Any form of cancer is … it’s going to be a bit of a tough road for him,” he said.

“It hit him hard … we both had a bit of a cry. No words were needed but the seriousness of it would break anyone down, no matter how strong or fit you are.