It has been revealed injury played as much a role in Heamasi Makasini's axing from first-grade for the Wests Tigers' Round 8 clash with the Canberra Raiders as anything else.
Makasini, alongside Patrick Herbert was left out of the 22-man squad by Benji Mrshall when teams were named for the coming weekend on Tuesday afternoon.
Herbert held onto a spot in the matchday squad by being named in jersey 18, while Makasini was left out entirely.
It came after he made a number of errors during the Tigers' Round 7 loss to the Brisbane Broncos, however, it has now emerged he has bone bruising after he arrived at training on Wednesday morning wearing a moon boot.
Tigers coach Benji Marshall confirmed to the media on Wednesday that he wouldn't have been fit for this weekend's clash anyway, and as a result will also not play in the NSW Cup.
Whether Makasini, who is one of the competition's boom rookies and is likely in the mix for Rookie of the Year, gains his spot back once fit remains to be seen, however, it's likely he will spend some time in reserve grade to return confidence after his shaky performance against Brisbane.
The outside back, who can play on the wing or at centre, debuted at the back-end of last year and, up until this weekend, hasn't missed a game for Benji Marshall's high-flying side yet this year.
