The Brisbane Broncos have suffered a blow to their forward stocks with young lock Jai Arrow ruled out for six weeks.
Arrow injured his thumb during the Norths Devils' loss to Souths Logan in the Intrust Super Cup last weekend.
The 21-year-old underwent surgery on Wednesday, with surgeons re-attaching a torn ligament to his thumb.
Speaking to NRL.com, Arrow voiced his disappoint at suffering the injury after such a promising start to the season.
Arrow had played five games for the Broncos this season before being left out of Wayne Bennett's 17 in Round 6.
The promising lock made way for the return of Kodi Nikorima that week, but Bennett said he would get his chance to return to the NRL at some point this season.
"Jai didn't really get dropped. He's been playing great for us," Bennett said.
"We just wanted to bring Kodi in. Jai knows that.
"He'll be back and playing a lot more NRL this year."
Arrow will now have to wait a little longer to make it back, but he is not the only Bronco to suffer an injury setback.
Souths halfback Sam Scarlett awaits an arthroscopy on Thursday to determine the extent of an ankle injury he suffered in the same game as Arrow.
It means Brisbane's depth in the halves is a real worry following the injury to Ben Hunt in his side's 32-8 win over the Sydney Roosters.
Hunt will miss six to eight weeks, with Todd Murphy now the only healthy option in reserves as Nikorima prepares to start in the No.7 jersey this week.
In other injury news for the Broncos, centre Tom Opacic has hit another hurdle in his recovery from a double shoulder reconstruction.
The Broncos' 2016 Rookie of the Year injured his ankle playing for the Redcliffe Dolphins on the weekend and will miss at least another two matches.
It's a huge let-down for Opacic who was on the verge of cracking Brisbane's 17 in the near future.
