It's feared Gareth Widdop has played his last NRL game with St George Illawarra officials privately conceding he will be forced to undergo shoulder surgery.
The Dragons skipper will have scans over the weekend after dislocating his right shoulder for the third time in seven months in Thursday's one-point win over Brisbane which will reveal the extent of the damage.
Under a worst-case scenario, he faces six months on the sidelines.
And given he underwent a shoulder reconstruction during the off-season, he faces a fight to get back on the park this year.
The Englishman has already been granted an early release to join the Super League next year and has signed with Warrington.
After 188 appearances for Melbourne and the Dragons since 2010, it could represent the final time he is seen in the NRL.
Prop Paul Vaughan dismissed the possibility of Widdop, should he be ruled out for the rest of the year, wanting to pack up his life and move back to England immediately.
"No, I don't think so," Vaughan said.
"He loves the boys, loves being around the team, he's 100 per cent committed and dedicated to the boys.
"He'll definitely stay.
"No one wants to see him go out like that, that's not how I want to see him play his last game. I love playing with him. I hope he gets back on the field. I'm sure he'll be doing everything to do that."
Widdop suffered the latest injury trying to gather a Darius Boyd kick off his own line before Brisbane centre Jack Bird pounced on the loose ball to score and lock up the match up at 24-24 in the final minutes.
However, Dragons playmaker Corey Norman stepped up with 12 seconds left on the clock to kick the match-winning field goal.
Widdop's injury will ironically relieve pressure on coach Paul McGregor and scrutiny on his spine rotation which has seen him try to shoe-horn five players in Widdop, Norman, Ben Hunt, Cameron McInnes and Matt Dufty into four spots.
Dufty will now move to No.1 with Hunt and Norman to combine in the halves.
"There's been a lot spoken about the spine but last week against Souths, what was the score at halftime? 12-6 and I don't think there were many problems with the spine then," McInnes said.
"The week before it was a tight game against the Cowboys and there were no problems with the spine then. All this talk about the spine - it's a bit of crap to be honest with you.
"It's more about we didn't defend well and hold the ball in those first two games."
