Canterbury Bulldogs director of rugby league Phil Gould has revealed forward Jaeman Salmon has suffered a fractured ankle, which will require surgery.
The forward, who has been one of the permanent fixtures in Cameron Ciraldo's high-flying outfit to start the 2025 season, was taken from the field during Saturday afternoon's tense comeback win over the Canberra Raiders in the Nation's Capital.
The Bulldogs were hopeful the injury wouldn't prove to be serious, but those hopes have now been dashed, with Gould revealing Salmon will likely be out for around ten weeks after the surgery.
"Jaemon Salmon scans have revealed a fractured ankleโฆ He will require surgery. Probably 10 weeks return to play. It is what it is. That's football," Gould posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The injury will see Salmon miss the entire State of Origin period, and while it's unlikely the blue and white will lose any of their forwards to the representative arena, they are currently sitting without Jacob Preston, Josh Curran and Sitili Tupouniua through suspension, while Jack Todd is out with a broken arm.
It means Salmon will join the sidelined group for this weekend's clash with the Sydney Roosters.
He was named at lock last Tuesday, but took to the field on the edge against the Raiders.
Harry Hayes is the most likely option to jump into the starting side for the blue and white against the Roosters as they wait for the return of other experienced campaigners, while the likes of Jack Underhill and Luke Smith would be favoured to join the interchange bench.
