The St George Illawarra Dragons might have been hoping to have centre Moses Suli back on the park in a couple of weeks, but reports suggest that is now unlikely.
The Dragons' centre - who has been in fine form during the club's run to be in finals contention with just a handful of weeks in the regular season remaining - was taken from the field with a knee injury during Saturday evening's clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The loss for the Dragons in front of a sold-out home crowd has now been added too, with News Corp reporting his scans on a knee injury - believed to be a medial ligament problem - have shown more damage than first anticipated.
It's understood Suli could miss between four and six weeks with the injury, which would leave him only able to return during the finals - and potentially the second half of the finals at that - if the Dragons can make it that far.
Shane Flanagan, speaking during his post-match press conference on Saturday evening, had been expecting to only lose Suli for a week or two.
The injury is a devastating blow for the Red V, with the club likely to need two wins from their remaining four games at a minimum to qualify for the finals for the first time since 2018.
Given Max Feagai was already in the side on Saturday evening, Suli's loss could see the Red V call on brother Mat to fill the void at centre. Another option could be to recall Jack Bird, although he is likely going to be needed at five-eighth should Kyle Flanagan be suspended after allegedly biting the nose of Stephen Crichton during the game.
Flanagan will plead not guilty and contest at the judiciary after being referred directly by the NRL's match review committee. The need for Bird to potentially play at five-eighth comes with the Dragons also being without Jesse Marschke and Fa'amanu Brown due to respective hamstring injuries, although the duo are both due back this weekend.
The other option for coach Flanagan could be to move Zac Lomax into the centres and pick young gun Sione Finau, or hand a recall to Mikaele Ravalawa.
The Dragons play the Gold Coast Titans at home this weekend, with teams to be confirmed at 4 pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
The Red V then clash with the Cronulla Sharks, Parramatta Eels and Canberra Raiders in their final three games.
