Melbourne's quest to fill Billy Slater's shoes has been hit with a major setback with rookie Scott Drinkwater confirmed to have suffered a torn pec in Melbourne's trial loss to North Queensland on Saturday.
Drinkwater, earmarked as a hot candidate for the rookie of the year award, appeared to aggravate the muscle in a tackle attempt while chasing down an attacking Storm kick.
Scott Drinkwater off for Storm with shoulder injury. Video v limited/blurry, tough to analyse but concern for right pec/anterior shoulder injury as he rolls over top of tackle. Seemed to clutch very quickly to front of right shoulder on the ground, hope it’s just a scare pic.twitter.com/8gq8Yp1ZIF
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 2, 2019
The club were quick to provide supporters with an early assessment, suggesting the 21-year-old was due to spend some time on the sidelines.
Update on Drinky:
— Melbourne Storm (@storm) March 2, 2019
Early assessment is a torn pec.
Length of time on the sidelines to be determined after further assessment.
Their assessment was accurate - on Monday, the club confirmed Drinkwater will have to go under the knife and is expected to miss up to four months of action.
Injury Update ⚠️
— Melbourne Storm (@storm) March 4, 2019
Unfortunately, Drinky has a confirmed ruptured pec and will be seeing a surgeon in the coming days.
He is expected to be out for 3-4 months - All the best with your recovery, Drinky! pic.twitter.com/NDxuzcaRQI
Drinkwater was a star in both of the club's trials against New Zealand and North Queensland, scoring Melbourne's only try in the 14-6 defeat to the Cowboys in Mackay.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy will call on Maori All Stars playmaker Jahrome Hughes, who was rested for the trial after receiving a knock at training.
Melbourne will play in the 2019 NRL season's curtain raiser against Brisbane on March 14.
