South Sydney are facing an outside back shortage after Dylan Walker was sidelined for about a month with a broken hand.
Walker suffered a fractured metacarpal in the first half of the side's 20-6 NRL win over Wests Tigers on Sunday and underwent surgery on Monday afternoon.
The 20-year-old Test representative played through the pain and scored two tries in the Rabbitohs' third win of the NRL season however his loss will leave coach Michael Maguire short on established backs.
Souths centre and grand final winner Kirisome Auva'a has been stood down until at least round 22 over a domestic violence incident.
The club also lost Beau Champion (Parramatta), Nathan Merritt (retirement) and Lote Tuqiri (retirement) in the off-season.
It means Alex Johnston is the only member of the Rabbitohs' three-quarter line from their 2014 grand final who'll be available for selection against the Eels on Friday night.
Daryl Millard and rookie Aaron Gray are in line to replace Walker or Maguire could move back-rower Chris McQueen into the backline.
Walker's effort to play with a broken hand earnt the praise of his teammates.
"Blokes just get on with the job (at South Sydney) and worry about things after the game," winger Joel Reddy said.
"That's what Dylan did, you could see here and there that he was struggling a bit but he just let it go and got on with the game.
"The two tries he scored were inspirational."
Prop Tim Grant said the side would feel Walker's loss.
"He was pretty inspirational, he did his job for the team and he's a pretty special player," Grant said.
"He's got the world at his feet ... We definitely lose something (without Walker).
"But whoever comes in and fills his spot, they know what to do within the structure and they'll do their job as well."
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