It felt like a golf ball hit the back of his calf and it could have Canberra Raiders recruit Ryan Sutton missing up to six games.
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The Englishman's hoping it's shorter, but - having already missed the win over St George Illawarra - he might not be back until the Raiders face Manly at Canberra Stadium in round 23.
Sutton suffered the injury at the end of training in the lead up to the Dragons game and will also miss the Raiders' clash against West Tigers at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
It means the Green Machine will have one less of their English contingent over the next month.
Sutton had returned from a quick trip to Bali with fellow Englishmen John Bateman and Elliott Whitehead, recharging the batteries after his introduction to the NRL.
He'd played all 15 games since joining the Raiders from English Super League club Wigan Warriors.
"It was a bit unfortunate what happened. We'd finished training and I took one little step and it felt like a golf ball had hit me in the back of the calf," Sutton said.
"I got a scan and it said it was a grade-two tear. They've said 4-6 [weeks], but I'm already making a lot of good progression so I'm hoping to be back a lot sooner."
Similarly, Bateman has played 13 of the Raiders' opening 16 games with a short spell out due to a fractured eye socket.
He said the trip to Bali was the perfect way to refresh, as the Raiders prepare for a likely run to the NRL finals.
They went straight from Darwin to the Indonesian island to take advantage of a few days off after playing the Parramatta Eels in the Northern Territory in round 15.
"Me, Elliott and Sutty, and one of Elliott's mates James came. A couple of us went straight from Darwin," Bateman said.
"[Raiders coach Ricky Stuart] said we could go straight to Bali pretty easily.
"We just needed to get away for a bit. It's been a tough start to the season and we went just to refresh ourselves and come back in for [the Dragons game]."
While he was in the top end, Bateman got acquainted with Aussie crocodiles and then had a surprise reunion on television.
It's fair to say it wasn't his favourite experience.
You'd never doubt Bateman's courage. In his short time in Canberra he's already established himself as one of the toughest players in the NRL.
He grew up in a tough part of Bradford and didn't take a backward step against Penrith behemoth Viliame Kikau.
But it turns out crocodiles aren't the only things he's afraid of.
"I'm not really into spiders. Spiders, snakes and crocodiles, I'm not really in love with I'm being honest with you," Bateman said.
He was looking forward to the week, with the Raiders set to add three players to their hall of fame and a massive contingent of old boys expected to be at the Tigers game in the 30th anniversary of their maiden premiership.
But Bateman said they wouldn't let that be a distraction.
"It will be a busy week. We've got one job to be fair. We've got to beat Tigers with everything going on around us," he said.
"It will be good to get the old boys back. We want to go out there and put on a performance [for them] and get the two points."
NRL ROUND 18
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium, 5.30pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Emre Guler. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Royce Hunt, 20. Jack Murchie, 21. JJ Collins.
Tigers squad: 1. Corey Thompson, 2. Paul Momirovski, 3. Moses Mbye, 4. Esan Marsters, 5. David Nofoaluma, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. Luke Brooks, 8. Josh Aloiai, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Alex Twal, 11. Ryan Matterson, 12. Chris Lawrence, 13. Matt Eisenhuth. Interchange: 14. Jacob Liddle, 15. Thomas Mikaele, 16. Elijah Taylor, 17. Michael Chee-Kam. Reserves: 18. Tommy Talau, 19. Chris McQueen, 20. Luke Garner, 21. Oliver Clark.