Petero Civoniceva will miss next month's Four Nations tournament after suffering a suspected torn pectoral in his final game for the Panthers at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
The veteran prop suffered the injury in the 32nd minute of Penrith's 32-12 loss to the Dragons after his left arm became trapped while attempting to tackle Ben Creagh.
Civoniceva will have scans to determine the extent of the damage on Saturday morning but Panthers medical staff believe he has torn his left pectoral off the bone.
If the initial diagnosis is confirmed the Broncos-bound 35-year-old faces a six-month layoff, meaning he could be back in time for the start of the 2012 campaign.
"I obviously wanted to go on that (tour) and have one last go I guess in that Kangaroos jersey beside my good mate Locky (Darren Lockyer)," an ice-clad Civoniceva said after the game.
"I was really looking forward to the opportunity to go away and unfortunately now with this it'll mean that I'll be watching and cheering them on from home."
But while shattered to miss the October/November tour of England and Wales, the veteran prop admits his first extended layoff in a decade could prove a blessing in disguise.
"I guess I've just got to see the positive in all this and just know that there's a good rest coming up," he said.
"It's been a long time since I've had a rest, every pre-season I've pretty much been on tour with the Kangaroos so this will be the first one since 2001."
"I guess so it'll be good to spend a bit of time with my family and my kids and we've got a big move now back to Brisbane."
"If it's the typical pec injury we're looking at possibly getting back in time to start the season."
Civoniceva, who this week learned he has been playing without the anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees, added when asked how the injury happened.
"I tackled Ben Creagh and I had my arm up high and I couldn't get it out and I was locked in and I fell to the ground and just felt it tear."
"I guess all my weight was heading downwards and my arm was still stuck up in the air and I felt it go straight away."
Meanwhile, the veteran believes the Dragons are genuine premiership contenders after an impressive display on Friday night.
"I didn't really see too much in the slump at all, it's one of those things that good teams go through unfortunately when you're playing at such a high level and the opposition are rising to the challenge every week," he said.
"It's hard to maintain that cohesion that makes them such a great team."
"But it was just a matter of them getting their confidence back again and it's two wins in a row for them now so they'll be heading into the semis in a good frame of mind."