The Dolphins have confirmed aggressive forward Tom Gilbert has suffered a minor throat injury, causing him to miss this weekend's clash with the New Zealand Warriors.
Gilbert suffered the injury during last weekend's win over the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, with it being the Dolphins' seventh straight victory.
Gilbert played 42 minutes in a single stint during the game and showed no obvious signs of injury, running the ball 9 times for 86 metres, making a tackle break and completing 36 tackles with just a single miss.
The club have now confirmed he has a minor throat injury though which will require him to see a specialist before a return to play timeline can be set.
In the meantime, the club have simply said he will be out "indefinitely".
The club has flown into the top four on the back of its recent form, although Gilbert has had something of a mixed season even as the Dolphins chase their maiden finals appearance.
The forward has managed 11 games so far this year, but after playing in the starting team during the opening weeks of the campaign at either prop or lock, was sent back to the bench in Round 9 where he has been ever since.
His minutes have been significantly reduced as a result, with the game against the Tigers being the first time he has managed more than 40 minutes since being shuffled to the bench.
The former junior star would have been a walk-up start in the Queensland State of Origin side at the start of the year for most pundits, but has fallen off Billy Slater's radar with his reduced minutes and output.
Given the Dolphins form and now his injury, there would appear to be little chance of him being recalled to the starting side once fit, although the Dolphins have maintained his importance to their plight, with Gilbert one of the club's co-captains alongside Isaiya Katoa.
The prop is no stranger to the casualty ward, with his previous knee and pectoral muscle injuries wiping out his 2024 season, and limiting him to just 11 games in 2023 and 10 games in 2025.
It means he is yet to play a full season for the Dolphins, with 2026 now in doubt over his newest blow.
Forwards returning from an Origin rest last week in Tom Flegler and Max Plath offset his loss for this weekend's home clash against the Warriors, which will pit two top-four and finals-bound teams against each other at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
