Canterbury have suffered a huge blow before the 2020 NRL season with confirmation star five-eighth Kieran Foran could miss the next 12 months.
Foran underwent a shoulder reconstruction on Tuesday after he was injured playing for New Zealand at the start of this month, and the club has confirmed further damage was found.
The 29-year-old will undergo further surgery and recovery is expected to be between nine and 12 months.
"Kieran Foran yesterday underwent re-constructive surgery on his injured shoulder," a club statement read.
"The surgery revealed that there was new and additional damage to the shoulder that will require Kieran to undergo further surgery later this month."
The Bulldogs will almost certainly apply for salary cap dispensation under NRL rules, where a maximum of $350,000 of relief can be granted if a player is injured while on representative duty and misses a minimum of 12 games.
However, given Foran's contract is believed to be worth about $1million per season any relief will not cover his salary.
Foran is contracted with the Bulldogs until the end of next season but has played just 26 games for the club over the past two years as he battled various injuries.