St George Illawarra Dragons prop Blake Lawrie will miss anywhere between three and four weeks with a fractured finger.
The Dragons took to Twitter on Saturday morning after the club's narrow win over the Sydney Roosters on Friday evening to confirm Lawrie had suffered the fracture.
It came after he played just 11 minutes during his second stint on the park, forcing the Dragons into a late adjustment to their interchange strategy in what was interim coach Ryan Carr's first game in charge after taking over mid-week from Anthony Griffin.
"Blake Lawrie suffered a small fracture to the 4th metacarpal of his left hand last night. He will have a plate and screws inserted on Monday and is likely to miss 3-4 weeks," the club tweeted.
The 26-year-old prop, who has played 114 NRL games, has become a key part of the Dragons' engine room in recent seasons and is yet to miss a game this campaign.
Making 124 metres per contest and adding 340 tackles, the enforcer has regularly played more than 50 minutes throughout the course of the season to date, backing up a 2022 season where he took part in all 24 games.
The gap in games could mean Lawrie plays less than 20 games in a season for the first time since 2018.
After being late outs last night, Michael Molo and Jack Bird should be both fit for selection in Round 13 when the Dragons travel to play the Dolphins in Redcliffe on Thursday evening. That will likely see Francis Molo shift from lock to prop, while Bird will return in the 13 jumper, with Michael Molo then in competition with Jaiyden Hunt for the final bench spot in Carr's side.