The Penrith Panthers have confirmed star halfback Nathan Cleary has suffered a Grade 2 hamstring tear.
The injury will see the game's top halfback miss the next eight weeks and the entirety of the 2024 State of Origin series, where he again would have worn the number seven jumper for the New South Wales Blues.
The injury came during the first half of Friday evening's win over the Canterbury Bulldogs at the foot of the mountains, with Cleary heading straight up the tunnel after seeming to tweak his hamstring.
While it originally looked as if he may have only been heading off as a precaution following earlier issues with the same hamstring, it was revealed during the second half and again after the contest that Cleary may have had a more serious issue to deal with.
Scan results have now been returned showing the more severe than hoped hamstring tear which will leave the halfback sidelined for the next two months.
Cleary's absence is compounded for the Panthers by a leg injury sustained to backup halfback Brad Schneider, who was hit while kicking during Friday's earlier NSW Cup clash, also against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
It leaves the Panthers with a major question mark over their own path forward, with one of Daine Laurie, Jack Cole or regular five-eighth Jarome Luai now likely needing to step into the number seven jersey for the next two months.
The Panthers would have been expecting to be without Cleary for a handful of games in the coming weeks anyway given his Origin committments, with life without the star to commence against the New Zealand Warriors during Magic Round this coming weekend.
At Origin level, Cleary's return - which won't come before Round 18 in the NRL - will see him miss at least the first two Origins, and likely the potential series decider as well given he would at most have a single NRL match under his belt before that game.
Michael Maguire's selection headache is now an enormous one, with Nicho Hynes being pulled from last night's clash against the Melbourne Storm, and Mitchell Moses also having minimal footy under his belt.
Penrith will confirm Cleary's club replacement this Tuesday when teams are named for Round 11, while Maguire will be forced to make a call on his new halfback after Round 12 when teams are announced ahead of Origin 1.