The Sydney Roosters will be waiting with bated breath for the results of Luke Keary's scans after the veteran half was struck down with the latest head knock of his decade-long career.
The 30-year-old departed the Chooks' 26-18 defeat at the hands of the Storm early following a collision with Joey Manu's knee at the half-hour mark of the clash.
Though able to leave the Sydney Cricket Ground without the assistance of a stretcher, Keary's career is now at a crucial crossroads due to this latest setback being far from the first instance of his first-grade tenure.
Having been battered on several occasions across the course of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Queensland-born playmaker was forced to spend a protracted period on the sidelines in an effort to recover appropriately.
Keary was only given the green light to return to Trent Robinson's senior side after the ex-Bunny hopped a series of hurdles, including sessions with specialists, per reports from The Daily Telegraph.
Given the recent retirements of fellow Roosters Jake Friend and ex-captain Boyd Cordner due to similar issues, it remains to be seen if and when Keary comes back into contention for selection.
Speaking in the wake of the five-eighths' latest setback, Robinson expressed a modicum of positivity, claiming that Keary was in good spirits following his collision with Manu.
“He’s obviously got a knock there and he was okay in the sheds but not enough to go back on the field, so not ideal,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“It’s too soon to say (what will happen from here). He got the knock and came off and I can’t give you much more than that.”
Skipper James Tedesco echoed the ambiguity, stating that he had his fingers crossed.
“I don’t know how serious it is for him and you’ve just got to make sure he looks after himself. Hopefully, it’s not to the bad extent it was last time," the champion fullback said following the final whistle.
In what was a dirty night for the eastern suburbs team, Keary's halves partner, Sam Walker, was also unable to finish out the 80 minutes, with the youngster coming off second best in a bout with Felise Kaufusi's elbow.
With the severity of each individual instance not yet diagnosed, it is not yet known whether one or none of Sydney's playmaking unit will be deemed fit to face Parramatta at CommBank Stadium next Saturday night.
