The Warriors will be without workhorse loose forward Michael Luck for the first month of the 2012 NRL season as he undergoes shoulder surgery on Thursday.
Luck has been nursing an AC injury in his left shoulder for the past two seasons and it has finally been decided to clean it up in the off-season after further aggrevation.
The surgery involves reattaching the 29-year-old's clavicle and he will face 12 weeks in recovery before being able to resume full contact training.
As a result, he will miss all of the Warriors' three pre-season matches and possibly the first five regular season fixtures which include home matches against the Sea Eagles, Bulldogs and Titans along with trips to Parramatta and the Roosters.
"I've managed to get by with it and it felt fine at the end of last season but it's been a problem for me again lately. It's getting worse and I just have to have the operation as soon as possible," Luck said.
"It's really disappointing and it'll make for a tough Christmas Day I guess but it's better to have it sorted out now so I can get back as soon as possible once the season starts."
It is a frustrating time for Luck given he has already been under the knife once since the Warriors' grand final loss to the Sea Eagles back in October.
The fearless No.13 had played with a broken left wrist in making a game-high 46 tackles in the grand final and had it pinned soon after.
"It's really disappointing for him. He's been great leading the boys during the preseason so far so it's a blow for him," new Warriors coach Brian McClennan said.
"But looking at it as positively as possible, with Lucky having surgery now it allows us to plan ahead for our first block of games until he's ready to play again. It also gives other players the chance to impress."
Since starting his Warriors career in 2006, Luck has missed only 10 of a possible 154 games despite the high impact involved in his defensive workload.
He is six games short of joining Stacey Jones (264), Logan Swann (195), Lance Hohaia (185), Awen Guttenbiel (170) and Wairangi Koopu (159) in the 150-match club for the Warriors, with captain Simon Mannering (146) also on the brink.