Canberra enforcer John Bateman has revealed a drastically reduced rehabilitation program will impact on his NRL return after undergoing shoulder surgery late in the pre-season.
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The 26-year-old Raiders second-rower was expected to be available for selection in round seven or eight if the NRL season was not suspended by coronavirus, which would have been within the next fortnight.
However, unable to get up to twice daily rehabilitation sessions with club medical staff, players like Bateman are expected to take longer in their recovery.
The situation is further complicated for Canterbury second-rower Joe Stimson, who is still awaiting surgery to be scheduled on a torn shoulder joint he injured in round two.
All non-urgent elective surgeries have been postponed by the Australian government to free up bed space in hospitals dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bulldogs are still waiting for restrictions to ease to book in the 24-year-old for surgery and give him a return-to-play date.
While Bateman's recovery process has been set back a few weeks, he told NRL.com he can't imagine what it is like for players with recent injuries.
"Considering I had an operation not too long ago it probably put me behind a few weeks," Bateman told NRL.com.
"When it all stopped, there was literally no treatment at all. We weren't allowed even to go in (to the club). It was more or less do what you can really at home.
"Over the last week or so I've been nipping in and out and getting a couple of treatment sessions but even with that, it's still not the same.
"You need to be in there probably once a day or even twice a day sometimes. I haven't really been able to get the right rehab in. It's hard. It is really hard."
Newcastle hooker Jayden Brailey suffered an ACL injury in round two after playing 45 minutes with a busted knee, and was rushed in for surgery before the restrictions were enacted.
He is an outside chance of playing again this season if it resumes.
Altered rehabilitation is also likely to affect Gold Coast prop Ryan James who is recovering from an ACL injury, as well as Cronulla's Cameron King, Brisbane's Jack Bird and Roosters centre Billy Smith.
Meanwhile, several players who were unavailable for the first two rounds are on track for the proposed May 28 return to play.
The Broncos have confirmed star prop Matt Lodge is on track to return for the potential end-of-May start after suffering what was feared to be a season-ending ACL injury.
Halfback Brodie Croft has also confirmed he will be right to play in round three after suffering an AC joint injury.
Parramatta hooker Reed Mahoney was originally set for a nine-week stint on the sidelines with a foot injury, but will be pushing for an early June return.
As well as Stimson, Canterbury are racing the clock with a number of players including star half Kieran Foran, who is well into his rehabilitation for shoulder surgery that threatened to end his season.
Australian Associated Press
