The Bulldogs will be short on middle forwards this weekend after Luke Thompson suffered an ankle injury at training on Tuesday afternoon.
Originally set to be named in the starting for Canterbury this afternoon, the Bulldogs have lost Thompson for not just their Round 1 match, but the entire regular season after negative scan results.
Already without middle forwards in Chris Patolo, Tevita Pangai Junior and Sam Hughes, it puts a massive emphasis on front-rowers Franklin Pele, Max King and Ryan Sutton, while Jayden Tanner is set to debut this weekend.
Phil Gould confirmed the news via his Twitter account.
"Reports of Bulldogs player Luke Thompson being injured at training today are correct," Gould tweeted on Tuesday.
"He sustained an ankle injury. He was assisted from field. He won't play this weekend.
"We will diagnose the seriousness ASAP. Front-rowers Tevita PJ (Pangai Junior), Chris Patolo, Sam Hughes & Luke unavailable."
It's a monumental blow for the Bulldogs on the eve of the season, and just a matter of hours before Circled names his first-ever NRL 17.
The news got worse for Thompson following scans.
"Unfortunately Luke Thompson's injury is quite serious," Gould tweeted later Tuesday afternoon.
"Prognosis is for minimum six months recovery. Possibly longer depending on surgery type. Very sad for Luke and the club. Thunderbolts happen."
Canterbury will confirm their 21-man squad at 4:00pm AEDT as they look to combat their growing injury toll.
The club are already handing two players their NRL debuts in centre Paul Alamoti and back-rower Jacob Preston, but may be forced to dig deeper if their woes continue.
