Former Dragons captain and current Cronulla rake Cameron McInnes is set to miss the opening month of the Sharks' 2022 season after scans confirmed the 28-year-old required minor surgery.
The South Sydney junior had previously been eyeing Cronulla's opening week clash against Canberra to both make his debut after joining the club prior to 2021 and make his return from an ACL injury.
However, these plans have been scuppered with CODE Sports claiming that McInnes would need to go under the knife to tidy up a meniscus injury.
Cronulla has since confirmed that the one-time NSW City representative will miss the club's trial contest against the Bulldogs on Monday night, as well as the first two rounds of the regular season.
Fans of the Shire side will now be required to wait until early-April at the earliest to see the defecting Dragon link up with recent Storm imports Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane.
The Sharks Round 1 stoush with the Raiders is scheduled to take place at GIO Stadium on March 11.
McInnes' most recent first-grade appearance came during St George Illawarra's 30-22 win over Melbourne on September 27, 2020.
After making his debut for the Rabbitohs in Round 5, 2014, the hooker-come-lock forward has seen NRL action on a further 129 occasions.