Melbourne Storm outside back Dean Ieremia will be racing the clock to make it onto the field at all in 2025 after suffering a ruptured achilles at training.
The Storm confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the outside back sustained the injury last week and has since undergone surgery.
The injury - one of the toughest for an NRL player to come back from - will rule the 23-year-old Samoan-born talent out for at least the next six months, leaving no chance of a return before the second half of July.
By that stage, there will only be around six months remaining in the 2025 season, and given the toughness in returning from such an injury, the club may well decide to focus on 2026.
If he does return, it will likely be with either the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup, or one of the Storm's QLD Cup affiliate teams.
The injury and statement from Melbourne does seem to confirm however that Ieremia has put pen to paper on an extension with the club for 2025, even though it has never been announced.
The outside back was re-signed on a one-year deal at the end of 2023 for the 2024 campaign, and played two NRL games throughout the course of the campaign, instead spending most of his time in reserve grade.
The injury continues a horror run for Ieremia, who, despite staying fit throughout 2024, spent the entire 2023 campaign sidelined after suffering a torn ACL in a trial game against the New Zealand Warriors that year.
