NZ Warriors half Chanel Harris-Tavita may have played his final game for the club, after sustaining what appears to be a serious injury during their loss to Melbourne Storm.
Harris-Tavita - who will take an indefinite break from rugby league, when his contract with the Warriors expires at the end of this season - limped from the field just before halftime in the 24-12 defeat at Mt Smart Stadium, wearing a grimace that left the coaching staff fearing the worst.
After the game, interim head coach Stacey Jones confirmed the early diagnosis from the team's medical staff was a torn medial cruciate ligament (knee), which carries an average recovery time frame of six weeks.
"We're thinking it's an MCL," Jones said. "However long that is, we're not too sure.
"He'll have scans and we'll need to see the extent of the injury."
The Warriors have just five rounds of their regular season schedule remaining, with a playoff berth beyond their reach.
The 23-year-old's departure resulted in some reshuffling of the backline that Jones believed was costly to his team's fortunes, particularly at the defensive end.
"Losing Chanel was a bit of a disruption for us," Jones mused. "He was playing pretty good up until his injury.
"We had to shuffle things around a bit and I thought Wayde Egan did a pretty good job [filling in].
"Hard for a player that plays in the middle to have to defend on an edge. That edge got a bit exposed at times, but not through Wayde’s fault."
After trailing the perennial powerhouse Storm by just two points at the interval, the Warriors were left to rue another trademark slow start to the second half, despite Jones' repeated warnings in the shed.
Their lacklustre openings to second spells have been one of the team's most glaring weaknesses this season and - after last weekend's capitulation to Canberra Raiders - that habit came back to haunt them again against the Storm, who seldom miss an opportunity to put a foot to their opponents' throat.
"We address it, we talk about it," Jones said of the second-half starts. "They just got some ruck speed on us and got a six again.
"We couldn't hold them out. Disappointing.
"We're saying all the right things in the changing room about coming out and starting fast after halftime. The last two weeks that's been a part of our game that's been an issue."
On the positive side for the Warriors, wing Edward Kosi bounced back from his nightmare Anzac Day meltdown against the Storm to run in a hat-trick of tries.
Kosi had been demoted to Redcliffe Dolphins, but took his chance for redemption in emphatic fashion at Mt Smart.
"Ed was outstanding tonight, the way he bounced back," Jones said. "Not just his three tries, but he caught some really good high balls, he carried the ball strong.
"From where he was when we last played him, he's come a long way. He's worked hard on his game, he's played well in the reserve grade.
"He played well against Parramatta when he got another opportunity, so hopefully this is the start of something good for Ed and the club."
The Warriors - who sit 13th on the NRL ladder - move on to face South Sydney Rabbitohs next Saturday.
