Josh Schuster's switch to the halves at the Manly Sea Eagles will have to wait yet another week to get out of first gear, with the five-eighth set to be ruled out again for Saturday's enormous clash with the Penrith Panthers.
The trip to the foot of the mountains looms as a litmus test for the Sea Eagles, who have had a mixed start to the 2023 premiership.
Their Round 1 drubbing of the Canterbury Bulldogs came without Schuster, before he returned following a bye to help Manly past the Parramatta Eels in a high-scoring thriller.
He then played against the South Sydney Rabbitohs - and did so well despite a golden point loss - but hasn't featured since, with the Sea Eagles last week squandering a fast start in Mudgee to play out a 90-minute draw with the Newcastle Knights.
Named on Tuesday to return this week against the Panthers, News Corp are now reporting that he will miss the game on Saturday as he struggles to recover from a quadriceps injury.
Schuster being out this week means Cooper Johns will come straight back into the side at five-eighth to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves for the mega clash.
Despite Schuster pulling out of the game as he continues to battle in his recovery, attack has hardly been an issue for the Sea Eagles this season.
While they only scored 12 points in an emotion-charged game against the Rabbitohs following the passing of John Sattler, Anthony Seibold's side have made it past the 30-point barrier in every other game they have played this season.
Tom Trbojevic's return to health has undoubtedly had a large chunk to do with that, as has the new style of coaching, while Cherry-Evans has played superbly.
Schuster showed his class against the Eels though as the Sea Eagles ran up 34 points, and they would have liked him on the field this weekend, with points unlikely to flow as easily against the NRL's best defensive outfit over the past two seasons in Penrith.
The new injury problem for Schuster follows a disappointing 2022 campaign in the second-row which saw him regularly battling for minutes and fitness.
His move to the halves to replace Kieran Foran, who moved to the Gold Coast Titans, came as no surprise though - it had always been proposed since his breakout season in 2021, which followed him captaining the New South Wales under-18 side in 2019.
Manly will be desperate for a win despite sitting fourth on the table - a bye has distorted things slightly, with the club sitting on a two wins, one loss and one draw record from their opening four games.
The clash against Penrith kicks off at 5:30pm (AEST) on Saturday.