Wakefield Wildcats will be without hooker Paul Aiton for up to two months after he suffered a broken jaw during a trip to Spain.
The 27-year-old was on a short break in Spain when he sustained the injury during a mugging after being given the weekend off by coach Richard Agar.
The Papua New Guinea skipper returned to England the day after the incident where he underwent an operation to have a metal plate put into his jaw.
Agar, who has recalled Andy Ellis from his loan spell with Featherstone as cover, is disappointed to lose a player he believes has been the club's most consistent this season.
"He's been assaulted and robbed," Agar told the club's official website.
"Unfortunately he's been in the wrong place at the wrong time and he's been whacked around the face with an object. He's not sure if it was a bat or an iron bar which has knocked him down and they've taken his bag that had his phone, sunglasses and wallet inside of it and taken off with it.
"He's got up the next morning and gone to the hospital, had it x-rayed and they've broken it. He's reported it as a mugging but I'm not too sure he's holding out too much hope for anything to come back from it.
"It's a real blow for us because he's probably been our most consistent player and he's our toughest player, that's for sure. He's really shaken up and it's put a real downer on the start of our week."