SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 20: Jake Friend of the Roosters is assisted from the field injured during the round 18 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the Newcastle Knights at Sydney Cricket Ground on July 20, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
In just his second game back from a 10-week absence due to a biceps injury, Roosters hooker Jake Friend only lasted seven minutes against the Knights before leaving the field holding his forearm.
Sydney coach Trent Robinson said Friend suffered a fracture, which could see him now on the sidelines for at least a fortnight.
"He's got a small fracture around the screw that re-attached the biceps," Robinson told reporters following his side's big win over Newcastle.
"It's not a couple of weeks and it's definitely not the season.
"A fracture – if you can plate it – is four weeks, and depending on the screw and all that, a fracture that you don't plate is eight weeks. So somewhere between that four and eight would be an uneducated guess."
Saturday's win over the Knights was the first time co-captains Boyd Cordner and Friend played together since round seven, and Robinson says the club is disappointed they'll have to wait a few weeks before the due plays together again.
"He's disappointed. We're all disappointed because finally we got back our crew of decision-makers – we got our captains back on the field for the first time in a long time," Robinson said.
Robinson now has a decision to make at the hooker spot, and says there's a couple of players who could fight it out for Friend's No. 9 jersey.
"There's two options for us really. There's a really good young kid who has played some games in Sam Verrills and there's Victor Radley, who is now a senior player," he said.