The Sydney Roosters will be left to sweat over a potentially devastating pre-season injury blow, with star utility Connor Watson suffering a reported non-contact knee injury at training.
According to Twitter account Supercoach Experience who was present at Roosters' training on Friday morning, Watson went down with a non-contact knee injury.
It was originally thought the injury could be an ACL injury, which would likely end his season before it begins, although this news is yet to be confirmed by the club and will likely need to await the result of scans.
It's now being reported however that the injury is a patella tendon injury.
According to Michael Chammas, he will meet with a surgeon next week to determine next steps, but it's almost certain that he will miss the start of the season.
Watson, who joined the Roosters from the Newcastle Knights ahead of the 2022 season in what is his second stint for the club, managed 21 games for the tri-colours.
Able to play lock, hooker or in the halves, his utility value proved valuable to Trent Robinson's side during their late-season resurgence and qualification for the finals, before being knocked out by the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a firey elimination final at the newly built Sydney Football Stadium.
Watson did spend a little bit of time on the sideline during 2022 with a non-similar injury.
During his 21 games, Watson scored 3 tries, averaged north of 30 tackles per game and added 74 metres per contest.
His role for 2023 remains unclear at this stage following the arrival of Brandon Smith from the Melbourne Storm, however, it's likely he will continue to predominantly play a utility role off the bench with minutes at both lock and hooker.
Smith has been signed to become the club's first-choice number nine, with Jake Turpin also joining from the Sydney Roosters following the departures of Sam Verrills (Gold Coast Titans) and Freddy Lussick (mid-2022, New Zealand Warriors).
Should Watson have suffered a season-ending injury though, it's likely Turpin would be required on the tri-colours' bench, while Drew Hutchison would also come back into the fold for minutes, with Victor Radley then playing increased minutes at lock.
Watson is off-contract at the end of the 2023 season.