The Manly Sea Eagles have confirmed hooker Lachlan Croker is expected to miss the start of the 2025 NRL season.

The dummy half, who missed a large chunk of 2024 owing to concussion and symptoms relating from that, was pictured in a knee brace on Manly's social media channels this week.

The photo was quickly removed after questions were raised.

Zero Tackle had asked the club for comment on Thursday morning regarding the injury status of Croker, and Manly have now released a statement revealing Croker underwent arthroscopic surgery to his left knee, but is now recovering well.

Despite his recovery being on track, the club have confirmed they do not expect Croker to be available for selection until Round 4 of the coming season.

It means the first-choice dummy half for Anthony Seibold will miss games against the North Queensland Cowboys (home), New Zealand Warriors (away) and Canberra Raiders (home) to start the season, before likely being fit for a Round 4 rivalry showdown with the Parramatta Eels.

If he fails to pass fit for that game, Croker would then target a pair of other rivalry games over Rounds 5 and 6, with the Melbourne Storm at home, and Cronulla Sharks in Perth, on their fixture list.

Croker's absence could well see a two-way battle for the number nine jersey between former Wests Tiger Jake Simpkinย and Manly youngster Gordon Chan Kum Tong.

Both had game time for the Sea Eagles last year, with Simpkin signing for the club in the middle of the season after gaining a release from the Tigers.

Jazz Tevaga, a lock forward who can also play at dummy half, will also provide extra coverage in the role throughout the 2025 campaign after moving to Manly from the New Zealand Warriors.