The Dolphins have confirmed the 2024 season is over for State of Origin-calibre forward Tom Flegler, and that he is still not out of the woods as far as his career goes.
Suffering a shoulder injury in the early part of this season, it was revealed the forward had suffered nerve damage in his shoulder.
Coach Wayne Bennett then dropped the bombshell a number of weeks ago that Flegler may struggle to play again.
The Dolphins have always worked towards the assumption Flegler will be able to resume his career at some point, but News Corp are now reporting he will not play this year, with the best-case scenario being a Round 1, 2025 return.
“Tom would be very, very doubtful to play again this year,” Dolphins high-performance boss Jeremy Hickmans told the publication.
“He has had a clean up of the nerve for want of a better phrase.
“The surgeon went in and checked to see if the nerve wasn't too damaged. According to the surgeon, the actual nerve itself looks good - there's no major damage to the nerve.
“This gives us a positive that the nerve isn't broken basically."
But the suggestions that his career could be over can't totally be discounted, although Hickmans said it was a "remote possibility."
“The worst-case scenario is he won't play again,” Hickmans said.
“That's a remote possibility so we can't beat about the bush, but the hope is that ‘Fleg' should be OK."
It was understood at one point that Flegler was pushing to return mid-season, and even asked Dolphins' medical staff for permission to play, however, the risk was simply too great to allow him onto the park, even though he is training as per normal.
It's believed the risk of contact at the present time is simply too great for the Queenslander to make a return.
Full nerve surgery or a nerve transfer is still a potential outcome for Flegler which could kick his return even further down the road.
The 24-year-old has made exactly 100 NRL appearances, and was one of the key signings for the Dolphins ahead of the new season after being poached from the Brisbane Broncos.
Despite the forward pack leader only making four appearances this year, and the club battling through other injuries, Wayne Bennett's side are still well in the mix to play finals rugby league for the first time ahead of Bennett's exit to South Sydney at the end of the campaign.
