The Sydney Roosters' NRL premiership hopes have been rocked after star halfback Sam Walker, Brandon Smith and Victor Radley suffered painful injuries in a stunning 14-12 loss to Canberra at Allianz Stadium.
Walker's injury appeared the most serious of the three, with the 22-year-old suspected to have damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee attempting to tackle Simi Sasagi 12 minutes into Sunday's game before being assisted from the field.
At their worst, ACL injuries can rule players out for more than a year.
"The three guys are going for scans now. It doesn't look good for Sammy. That's really disappointing," said Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
A season-ending injury to Walker would compel the third-placed Roosters to defy history to win the title. No side has won an NRL grand final without their first-choice halfback.
Sandon Smith is set to partner Luke Keary in the halves in Walker's absence, with Robinson remaining positive about his side's premiership aspirations.
"We've got a squad for that reason. You guys don't get to see them always, but you've got to believe in who's coming next," Robinson said.
"So let's go, let's get excited about moving on to next week."
Still reeling from the Walker blow, the Roosters were forced to reconfigure again after Canberra's Elliott Whitehead crunched Brandon Smith's right leg in a hip-drop tackle just before half-time. The hooker was also assisted from the field with a suspected knee injury.
Second-rower Radley joined Smith and Walker in the casualty ward with left shoulder damage following a tackle from Joe Tapine and Adam Cook 10 minutes after half-time.
Fellow forward Nat Butcher later returned a category-one head injury assessment. He will likely miss next week's match against South Sydney but is expected back for the finals.
Raiders captain Whitehead was sin-binned twice on Sunday, first for his shot on Smith, then for kicking at the ball while it was in Angus Crichton's grasp.
He had been integral to the Raiders' surprise 10-2 half-time lead, crashing over from a Danny Levi pass out of dummy half before throwing the offload that handed Sasagi the Raiders' second try.
When Xavier Savage tore down the right edge following a Michael Jennings error, the Raiders were up 14-2.
Daniel Tupou slid over on the left wing soon after Whitehead's second dismissal, with the Roosters finally shaking off uncharacteristic execution issues.
When Keary picked Tupou out with a fifth-tackle kick in the final seconds, the Roosters had a chance to equalise with a sideline conversion after the siren, but part-time kicker Keary missed to the left.
"I don't know if I've coached many more courageous efforts," said Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.
"They had 60 per cent of the footy, I can't remember a good ball set we had in the second half ... the (ruck) infringements and penalties were 16-6 (against Canberra).
"We had so much go against us today that it made the win so much sweeter."
Canberra have ambushed premiership fancies Penrith and the Roosters inside two weeks but their for-and-against leaves only a mathematical chance of playing finals, their likeliest path being to beat St George Illawarra while hoping Newcastle and the Dolphins draw.
Raider Jordan Rapana has played his last NRL game after suffering a fractured cheekbone laying a try-saving tackle on James Tedesco.
Rapana appeared to wear Tedesco's elbow in his face as he tackled him in mid air. Stuart confirmed he would not feature again before joining Super League side Hull FC next year.
