Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has conceded there's a real possibility that Greg Inglis' phenomenal NRL career is finished, saying "the signs aren't good" for the captain's shoulder problem.
Inglis was granted a week's leave from football to consider his future amid a growing list of injuries.
The champion outside back, who intended to play on until the end of 2020, is expected at training on Monday when his decision is likely to be made.
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Inglis, 32, has missed the past two matches for Souths as he struggles with severe arthritis in his left shoulder joint.
Bennett, who refuses to select players unless they can perform without painkilling injections, said the concern can't be fixed with an operation.
He compared Inglis' plight to the shoulder issue that forced former Brisbane centre Jack Reed into premature retirement in his late 20s three years ago.
"It flares up and it goes from bad to good to worse. [It's] unpredictable, all over the shop with it," Bennett said on Friday.
"At the moment he can't raise it above his head or a little away from his body as he tries to raise it. The signs aren't good.
"Surgery won't fix it. That's the issue – a bit like Jack Reed at the Broncos when I was there. He had similar type problems."
Bennett is optimistic Inglis will return from his break refreshed and motivated to continue on ahead of the Rabbitohs' Good Friday clash with the Bulldogs in round six.
But the master coach said only Inglis can determine whether he is able to push the pain aside to see out this season, let alone next.
"I don't know that. I don't know why he should or shouldn't [keep playing]. I mean, it's something for him to decide," Bennett said.
"That's why he's away for now, to get himself out of the bubble that we all live in and get a bit of reality in life."
Inglis has reportedly consulted his parents and grandparents to figure out what move he will make.
A family man, Inglis has already spoken of his desire to be around his relatives in Kempsey more often.
Expanding on his call to retire in 2020, Inglis said on League Life: ''I got told about my pop having signs of dementia and I thought it was about time that I spent time back home with my family and just make sure I'd be around for them.
''In saying that, my pop is all clear but there is another thing happening at the moment with my nan where she might have early signs of it as well.
''That made my decision quite clear and once I told dad, my close friends and family it just came easy and clear
"Once my mind is clear then I know where I'm going and what's ahead of me and that is pretty much why I called it quits last year.''
Regardless of whether he is sighted in the NRL again, Inglis' legacy among the greatest players of the modern era is already cemented.
He has played a total of 263 games since debuting for the Melbourne Storm as a teenager in 2005 before switching to Souths in 2011, helping the famous club to a drought-breaking premiership three years later.
Inglis has represented Queensland 32 times and Australia on 39 occasions.