St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor confirmed Gareth Widdop suffered a dislocated shoulder in a dramatic 25-24 NRL win over Brisbane Broncos.
Widdop left the field in agony after doing damage as he tried to deal with a Darius Boyd kick at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday.
Jack Bird nipped in for a try with Widdop writhing on the turf, before walking off holding his right arm.
Widdop dislocated his right shoulder twice last year and faces another long absence in his final season with the Dragons after sustaining the same injury.
"Unfortunately tonight we lost Gaz. It is bad. I'm not a doctor but he's uncomfortable. It's dislocated," said McGregor.
"We have got a ready-made replacement in [Matt] Dufty. You don't ever want to see your captain and your playmaker, who has been the best player at the club for a number of years, laying on the bench with a dislocated shoulder.
"It is sad and it is part of the game we don't enjoy, but we have got young Dufty who played our whole season last year at full-back.
"[Corey] Norman is a left-sided player with a left-foot kick and we've got Hunty [Ben Hunt] on the other side, so we have a ready-made replacement there [at full-back]."
