Details continue to emerge regarding Luke Thompson's season-ending injury suffered at training on Tuesday morning, with two former Canterbury stars reportedly involved in the collision.
Thompson suffered a lisfranc injury to his foot during a routine drill at Belmore Oval just hours before Cameron Ciraldo unveiled his Round 1 outfit, and was carried from the field just moments after tragedy struck.
It's the latest in a long list of setbacks for Thompson, who has played just 38 out of a possible 60 NRL games for the Bulldogs since arriving to Australian shores midway through the 2020 season.
Brought back to the club to instil the 'Dogs of War' spirit into the squad, premiership-winning props of 2004 in Willie Mason and Mark O'Meley were involved in the unfortunate incident that'll see Thompson sidelined for at least six months.
The pair were holding a bump pad each when Thompson ran at the duo before collapsing to the ground, clutching at his ankle in agony.
It's a dire situation for the Bulldogs' middle third, who are already without Chris Patolo and Tevita Pangai Junior for the early rounds of the season, forcing Ciraldo to call in the troops in his maiden NRL match at the helm.
Jayden Tanner has received NRL clearance to make his debut despite being outside the top 30, while Max King and Ryan Sutton start up front, and Fa'amanu Brown makes the puzzling shift to lock.
Back-rower Jacob Preston will also make debut from the interchange bench, while former Shark Franklin Pele has played just one NRL game, late in the 2021 season.
Phil Gould confirmed the news via his Twitter account shortly after the club received Thompson's scan results.
“Unfortunately Luke Thompson's injury is quite serious. Prognosis is for minimum six months recovery. Possibly longer depending on surgery type. Very sad for Luke and the club,” Gould tweeted.
Canterbury will unveil their new-look forward pack on Saturday afternoon as they face the Manly Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park.
