Sydney Roosters fullback Charlotte Caslick has been ruled out of the rest of the NRLW season after suffering a back fracture.
Having made her name in rugby sevens, Caslick made the decision to link up with the Roosters for the 2020 NRLW season with the World Sevens Series put on hold.
The Olympic gold medalist would make an immediate impact on 2019's wooden-spooners, playing a starring role in their demolition of competition favourites St George Illawarra Dragons.
With the tri-colours booking their place in the grand final against the Brisbane Broncos, the club announced that Caslick would be unavailable for the rest of the competition after scans revealed two small fractures in her spine.
"Sydney Roosters NRL Women’s Premiership player Charlotte Caslick has sustained two small fractures in her lumbar spine," they said in a statement.
"Consequently, she has been ruled out of the remainder of the 2020 NRLW competition.
"Caslick has commenced a recovery program and will remain with the Roosters NRLW squad in a support role."
She confirmed the news on social media, gutted that she could not finish her inaugrial season.
"Extremely disappointed to be ruled out of the remainder of the NRLW season due to 2 fractures in my lumbar spine," she said.
"As much as I’d love to be able to finish the season with the girls I have so much faith in them to bring home their first premiership! I’ve enjoyed my short rugby league stint and I’m so grateful to the Sydney Roosters for giving me this opportunity.
"Thanks for all the love, I’m okay and will be cheering for the girls from the stands."
This comes at the worst possible time for the 23-year-old, who was delighted with her performances following her opening games of rugby league.
“Obviously at the start it was really intense and pretty fast but I felt like there was a bit more space towards the back end of the first half so, yeah I had fun,” Charlotte Caslick said after round one.
“[Rugby 7’s and League] are definitely completely different sports. I think just the patience and kind of…going through your systems in rugby league is probably different to Sevens where we kind of just take our opportunity every single time we get it, so that’s something that I’m definitely learning."
It continues a nightmare week for injuries in the NRLW, with golden boot winner Isabelle Kelly ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle syndesmosis injury after a nasty tackle from Broncos forward Amber Hall.
She will be joined on the sidelines by captain Kezie Apps, with the second-rower suffering an MCL injury during last week's loss to the Broncos.
