The Melbourne Storm has provided an injury update on forward Ativalu Lisati following their 30-4 loss against the Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday.
Lisati was aided off the field after a suspected hip drop tackle from Joey Walsh resulted in a syndesmosis injury.
Walsh was pulled up on the tackle the following set of play and was sinbinned for his actions in the tackle.
The rising star wasn't referred to the NRL's match review committee and escaped punishment for the act.
Lisati has undergone surgery on his ankle and is expected to be ruled out for 6-8 weeks, and will begin rehabilitation with Storm medical staff.
The 25-year-old second rower made the move to Melbourne from the Penrith Panthers midway through 2024, where he has gone on to notch up 25 appearances in the NRL with the Storm.
Lisati comes at a great loss to the Storm, averaging 114 metres for the club and constantly plays 80-minutes at a high rate.
The Storm has already lost Elisia Katoa and Tui Kamikamica for the season, who are key men in their engine room, with Lisati joining the star duo on the sidelines.
Sitting in 12th place on the ladder, the Storm have been doing damage control to make up for their poor start to the season, losing seven matches in a row in the first half of the year.
With seven wins and nine losses to their name for 2026, they face an uphill battle to continue their incredible run of finals appearances, which includes 15 consecutive years of qualifying in the Top 8 come September.
The Storm has a bye in Round 18 before hosting the Gold Coast Titans on July 12.
