South Sydney are hoping for a miracle with centre Matt King, but his season appears over to compound the Rabbitohs’ miserable return to the NRL finals.

King will have scans on a suspected broken arm once the team return to Sydney on Sunday following their 24-6 qualifying final loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park on Saturday.

The veteran centre was in tears in the dressing room after suffering his second half injury and had his arm in a sling post-match.

Despite the gloomy signs, the Rabbitohs still haven’t officially given up hope he can be part of next weekend’s sudden-death semi-final against the winners of the Canberra-Cronulla match.

But it appears far more likely King’s season is finished.

In their first finals appearance in five years, the Rabbitohs paid heavily for first half ill-discipline and obvious nerves.

A succession of penalties put Souths on the back foot early, and all traction vanished as the Storm took full advantage to open up an 18-0 halftime lead.

Now the Rabbitohs face straight sets elimination after a top four finish.

Souths co-captain Michael Crocker didn’t believe the hype surrounding the side making the finals had been a distraction.

“We just didn’t execute on the night,” Crocker said.

“The intensity was there, and the speed at the start of the game was extremely fast.

“We really didn’t get into our structures and our game-plan … they got straight into their game and played it down our end of the field.”

Melbourne face a nervous wait to see if forward Kevin Proctor will front the judiciary for a lifting tackle on Souths’ Sam Burgess in the second half.

Proctor was put on report over the incident.