Parramatta Eels forward J'maine Hopgood has revealed he is no guarantee of returning at all this season.
Making his debut for the Queensland Maroons during Game 1 of the State of Origin series, the forward has since picked up a back injury and was left out of Game 2.
The chance of him returning for Game 3 has now completely disappeared, and it appears he may not make it back onto the field this year with the revelation he may need surgery.
He will meet with a surgeon on Thursday to determine whether he needs surgery on the back injury, however, the recovery would be at least 12 weeks. The NRL season has just ten weeks remaining, so Hopgood wouldn't be fit until the middle of the finals.
“I'm catching up with the surgeon tomorrow and assessing all our options,” Hopgood told Triple M Radio on Wednesday.
“Potentially if I have to get surgery it's a 12-weeker. It would pretty much do me for the season. The more time you give it, the less time surgery works. We'll see what the surgeon says tomorrow.”
It's unclear what the recovery timeframe would look like for Hopgood if he was to avoid surgery.
His injury and absence is a blow for both the Eels and Maroons, who were well short in the middle third on Wednesday night during Game 2, with Hopgood added to a long list of absentees including Thomas Flegler, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, Corey Horsburgh and Tom Gilbert from the engine room.
Parramatta, on the other hand, have slumped to the bottom of the table and are almost no chance of playing finals footy this year, but Hopgood not being available could be a blow for the club in attempting to avoid the spoon.
To date, Hopgood has played 12 games this year, tackling at over 96 per cent and making an average of 116 metres per game.
