Canterbury Bulldogs and New South Wales Blues star Stephen Crichton has suffered a potentially serious shoulder injury and is in significant doubt for the opening game of this year's State of Origin series.
The star centre, who suffered the injury during a Good Friday loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, will need scans to confirm the extent of the injury, but coach Cameron Ciraldo admitted it wasn't looking good.
If he needs surgery, Origin 1 is a pipe dream, and the rest of the series could be gone too. If he can rehabilitate the injury, he may be a chance of returning before Origin 1, but whether he would be thrown into that fire, lacking match fitness, is a decision for Laurie Daley to answer.
While there are plenty of candidates to assume the vacant spot in the centres, there is a clear favourite.
Assuming incumbents Brian To'o and Latrell Mitchell will be picked, and either Thomas Jenkins or Jacob Kiraz will win the race for the other wing spot, here are the players in the mix to line up in the centres if Crichton is unavailable for the opening game of the series when New South Wales will attempt to recapture the shield from Queensland after the dramatic failure of 2025.
5. Tom Trbojevic (Manly Sea Eagles)
The form Trbojevic showed on Thursday night against the Dolphins would have made Blues coach Daley sit up, take his notepad out and put a little asterisk next to the name.
Because it was his best performance in a very, very long time as Manly, under new coach Kieran Foran, put up a simplified performance to run on 50 points againt the Dolphins.
Trbojevic, until he was taken off for a head knock, played a huge role in that.
While he is not going to be considered at fullback for the Blues given Dylan Edwards exists, the chance of playing at centre is real.
When he did it alongside Latrell Mitchell in the 2021 series, the duo ran riot, roaming the park and becoming just about unstoppable.
That level of intensity and attacking ability doesn't disappear. If he is fit, he will be in the conversation as a sort of X-Factor option for Daley's side.
The way the game is being played, metres and momentum from your back five are everything, and there are few better at it than Turbo Tom.
2021 was a long time ago. I doubt Turbo will even be fit, come Origin, let alone be capable of playing SOO again.