Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has confirmed Scott Sorensen has suffered a hamstring twinge, but has hopes the second-rower will be fit for the club's preliminary final in a fortnight.
The Panthers have booked a week off after running riot in the first half over the Sydney Roosters at BlueBet Stadium on Friday evening.
Sorensen, however, was a late withdrawal, being replaced on the edge an hour before kick-off by Luke Garner.
The New Zealand international will have no issue winning his spot back though if he can pass fit.
"Sozza has had some hamstring problems recently. He just wasn't good enough for tonight. It's a bit of a twinge, not too bad, but you just can't [take a risk]. Tonight was the perfect result for that though. We will try and get him ready for that game [the preliminary final]," Cleary said of his second-rower during his post match press conference.
The week off will see the Panthers able to hand players a rest that they couldn't during the regular season given their spot in the top four - and more importantly the top two - wasn't locked in until after they had won their final game.
Cleary said the week off will now mean players can have a rest.
"I haven't decided yet. Obviously we have some experience so I'll just look back at what we have done before," the coach said.
"There are a few guys there that I would have liked to have rested in the last couple of weeks, so this is now the best way to be able to rest people. We will work it out, but I just want to enjoy the moment tonight, but it does give you a good chance to get some serious preparation in, because we are going to have to go up [a level] again in a few weeks time."
Penrith will play their preliminary final likely on Friday, September 27.
