Parramatta Eels winger Sean Russell has reportedly suffered a shoulder injury that will rule him out for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Russell, who missed the opening round of the season suspended following an incident at the back end of the 2022 NSW Cup season, found himself named on Tuesday afternoon to play first-grade this week against the Cronulla Sharks.
However, his spot in Friday night's game was mysteriously taken by Bailey Simonsson at the 24-hour update as coach Brad Arthur cut his team to 19 players.
Simonsson returning may not have been as strange as it seemed given his is expected to be in Parramatta's best 17 when fit this season, and has been battling to return from an injury of his own, but was named in the squad for this Friday's game.
Nonetheless, whispers of a shoulder injury followed, and Zero Tackle reached out to the Eels for comment on the status of the winger on Thursday evening following the squad being cut to 19.
The club are yet to make comment or return inquiries from Zero Tackle, however, Wacko's Whispers have revealed Russell's season is over with the injury.
Eels Sean Russell season is over after suffering shoulder injury which requires surgery
— Wacko's Whispers (@WackosWhispers) March 10, 2023
It's unclear when he suffered the injury, but it's believed it happened between teams being named on Tuesday and last night, with the injury to require surgery.
The injury to Russell follows a wretched run with injuries, where he missed most of the 2022 season after scoring a hat-trick on debut for the club against the Gold Coast Titans.
He was injured before halftime with three first half tries to his name and didn't return to first-grade for the remainder of the campaign.
The young gun was just one of a host of Eels' players who were injured in the backline last year, with another youngster in Haze Dunster also forced to make his way back from an ACL, MCL and PCL injury that he sustained during a pre-season trial against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
All of Maika Sivo, Bailey Simonsson and Tom Opacic among others also spent time on the sidelines throughout last year's push to the grand final.
Zero Tackle will update this story if the Eels return inquiries over the status of Russell's shoulder.