Canterbury have confirmed hardworking lock Adam Elliott suffered a dislocated shoulder in a collision on Sunday night, but his time frame for recovery is still unknown.
The 25-year-old made big contact with South Sydney forward Tom Burgess but in trying to haul him to the ground, his arm went limp and he was taken from the field.
Elliott went for scans on Monday morning where the injury was confirmed, and the club will now wait for an assessment on the severity of the dislocation.
Depending on the diagnosis, Elliott could miss a month to six weeks, or undergo surgery and miss between three and six months which would rule him out for the season.
It comes at a horrible time for the Bulldogs who suffered their seventh loss of the NRL season and are already without Will Hopoate for up to two months with an ankle injury.
However, coach Dean Pay said he has hopes new recruit Luke Thompson will be cleared to make his club debut against Brisbane on Saturday.
“We’re pretty confident he should be right next week. We’ll see how he goes during the week but we’re hopeful,” Pay said.
“He’s a quality player so you put any sort of quality player in a footy team they’re going to help the team.
“He’s an international, he’s been a part of a very successful club over there so he brings a lot to our team.”