Mitchell Moses, the Parramatta superstar, has been ruled out for at least the first six weeks of the NRL season.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, tests revealed the extent of a stress fracture in Moses’ foot, which will keep him out for a month and half.
It’s a cruel blow for new Eels coach Jason Ryles.
The halfback’s absence comes at a bad time as the team prepares to face premiership favourites Melbourne on Sunday.
“We’ve got a great group of staff to work out what’s wrong with him,” recruit Zac Lomax told the media on Wednesday.
“It’s been an ongoing issue for him since last year… We will get to the bottom of it. He’s disappointed; he hoped to get started right away after missing a lot of football.”
The 30-year-old’s injury has cleared the way for Ronald Volkman to begin the year in the playmaking role, only a year after his NRL career appeared to be in jeopardy.
Volkman joined with the Dragons last year, but once the club’s medical team detected a shoulder problem, the young Kiwi’s contract was not recorded.
“A lot of players come across adversity like that and it’s pretty easy to throw the game away, but Ronnie has just persevered,” Hopgood told ESPN.
“He has enormous shoes to fill, but he only needs to perform his job.
Volkman will face a Storm team that appears poised for another title run and is looking for its 23rd consecutive victory to start a season.
However, the Eels are confronted with the challenge of breaking their winning streak.
“We’re the luckiest team in the comp, because we’re the ones who’ve got a chance to try and end it,” Hopgood said.
“It’s a bit of David vs Goliath there, but we’re gonna go down there and hopefully come away with a win.”
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