Darius Boyd will reportedly miss the State of Origin decider and up to six weeks of NRL action due to a broken thumb.
Scans showed the Queensland star suffered a fracture in his right thumb in the Maroons’ 18-16 victory over NSW in Wednesday night’s game two.
The Courier Mail is reporting the Brisbane captain and fullback Boyd will have surgery in a few days.
Boyd’s name is added to a long list, including Cameron Smith, Boyd Cordner, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, who headline the casualties for this weekend’s NRL action after a bruising Origin II clash.
The top-of-the-table Melbourne-Sydney Roosters clash at Adelaide Oval on Saturday will be without at least five star attractions with the Storm’s big three as well as centre Will Chambers (concussion) ruled out, while tri-colours co-captain Cordner (calf) will be sidelined.
The Storm announced on Thursday that Queensland’s Smith, Cronk and Slater had all pulled up sore and would not play.
NSW captain Cordner on Thursday underwent scans after coming from the field with a possible torn calf late in the Blues’ 18-16 loss and could be out for longer.
“I just felt my calf. We’ll have to see how it pulls up tomorrow. Probably have to get scans to see how it is,” Cordner said after game two.
A serious injury would wipe him out for the series decider in Brisbane in three weeks, leaving Laurie Daley to find a new skipper.
NSW pair Brett Morris and James Tedesco are also set to miss action for their clubs this weekend, while North Queensland’s Johnathan Thurston (shoulder) is long odds to take the field for what would have been his 300th NRL game.
St George Illawarra’s Tyson Frizell (ribs) is also under an injury cloud.
Canterbury coach Des Hasler confirmed Morris would not be available to take on the Warriors on Friday night in Auckland, due to knee and rib niggles, while Blues teammates Josh Jackson and David Klemmer made the trip across the Tasman and would be assessed by club doctors.
Wests Tigers fullback Tedesco (ankle) spent time on the sideline for the Blues.
Frizell is also long odds to back up for the Dragons on Sunday against Newcastle after playing through a rib injury and spending the last 25 minutes on the Blues’ bench.
However, Dragons head of athletic performance Nathan Pickworth said the back-rower was being assessed.
Thurston was saying little on Thursday morning about whether he would be right to take on Penrith for North Queensland in his milestone match at 1300SMILES Stadium.
The Queensland champion – who booted the match-winning conversion to seal a famous win – said he was confident he hadn’t suffered structural damage and, on Thursday, was being being looked at by Cowboys medical staff.
