South Sydney have confirmed a major injury blow for Latrell Mitchell, who has been ruled out of another month of football due to a fresh setback.
Mitchell left Rabbitohs' training on Monday having held hopes of a return from back issues which have kept him sidelined since Round 11.
In an update on Tuesday, Souths confirmed the 29-year-old has suffered a grade two calf strain "related to his previous back injury".
The star centre is expected to miss another four weeks due to the setback, which also rules him out of returning to New South Wales' side for Origin III.
It comes as another frustrating interruption for Mitchell's 2026 season amid a string of injuries, particularly around Origin time.
Mitchell played all three Origin games in 2025 after being unavailable for multiple previous series. His sole appearance in 2024 was his first appearance in the Blues jumper since 2021.
Initially green-lit for game one in Sydney four weeks ago, Mitchell ruled himself out of selection and was unavailable for last week's game at the MCG.
He would have been a handy selection option for Laurie Daley following his side's get-out-of-jail comeback win at the start of the series, before the Blues allowed the Maroons to put on six second half tries and force a decider in Brisbane last Wednesday.
South Sydney are also in the midst of a turbulent period of form, sitting just one win out of the top four in seventh after their bye at the weekend and a 48-6 thumping of Brisbane the previous week.
The Rabbitohs had lost four of their last five leading into their game with the Broncos.
In other news, reports have emerged Knights veteran Dane Gagai is likely to remain in the NRL but run out in new colours in 2027, with his deal with Newcastle expiring at the end of the year.
Brisbane are reportedly frontrunners for the 35-year-old's signature after the Knights, as reported by NewsCorp, told Gagai they don't have room in their salary cap to keep him at the club beyond the current season.
"It's got to end somewhere and we have some very promising outside backs coming through," Newcastle recruitment manager Peter O'Sullivan told Code Sports.
"The salary cap just doesn't allow it to happen for us."
Brisbane have reportedly tabled a one-year deal for Gagai, who began his career at the Broncos in 2011, with interest also said to be coming from Sydney-based rivals and the super league.
On Tuesday Newcastle posted a video to Instagram celebrating the "most capped centre of all time", with Gagai set to run out for his 329th NRL game against the Tigers on Sunday.
