Treated after a tackle late in North Melbourne's two-point loss against Melbourne at Casey Fields on Saturday, the injury extends a horror run of luck at the highest level for the 20-year-old as she misses Saturday's 3.10pm match against GWS at UTAS Stadium.

Managing only four games of AFLW since being drafted in 2018, the former Launceston College student tore her anterior cruiciate ligament on debut for Western Bulldogs.

Bannister then moved to North Melbourne as the Tasmanian-affiliated side joined the league in the next season and played two games at the back-end of 2019.

Completing a full season of TSLW, she won the best and fairest, polling a mammoth 27 votes and is now expected to be back in the coming weeks, according to North AFLW football operations manager, Matt Bolitho.

"We expect Daria to be ready to return to training in three weeks, but will be taking a cautious approach," he said.

"It's bitterly disappointing for her after coming off injury last year, but she is extremely resilient and will play a vital role for us later in the season."

Coach Scott Gowans described Bannister as "one of the key players" during pre-season and was up for more midfield time before injury.