The Brisbane Broncos have confirmed Deine Mariner's leg injury is not career-threatening, but that he is not a guarantee of playing again in 2026.
Mariner suffered an acute compartment syndrome injury in his leg during Saturday night's loss to the Sydney Roosters and had to be rushed into surgery during the early hours of Sunday morning to ensure he wouldn't lose the leg altogether.
The star outside back is looking at two months on the sideline as a minimum, but the recovery is a tricky one with complications likely.
Brisbane head medical officer Matt Hislop didn't want to put a timeline on his return.
"He will play again, it's just a matter of when we can do it safely and minimise complications for Deine down the line," he told News Corp.
"It's too early to put a date on that.
"I won't make a comment on whether he comes back this year because you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If it goes exceptionally well we will be accused of rushing him back, but right now Deine is a week-to-week proposition.
"Early indications are promising, but the problem when you have that compartment syndrome and you open it up...I don't know if you have seen pictures of that type of surgery, but it's pretty brutal. When we said it was limb threatening, we weren't joking."
The injury is just the latest in a long line of players missing time for the Broncos, with Kotoni Staggs also joining the list after picking up a two-match suspension on the weekend.
Mariner is joined by Corey Jensen as the likely longest-term injuries for the Broncos with neither a guarantee of playing this year after the prop suffered a blood clot.
Brisbane could get some relief this weekend with Ben Hunt named in the 22-man squad and a chance to return, but Blake Mozer, Payne Haas, Delouise Hoeter, Grant Anderson, Brendan Piakura, Adam Reynolds and Billy Walters could all still be weeks away from returning, with Jensen and Mariner also on the long list of stricken players.
Brisbane clash with Manly on Saturday evening as they look to pick up a win against the odds, having done exactly that in their two games prior to playing the Roosters when they beat the Bulldogs and Tigers.
