Wayne Bennett says the Dolphins could be without hooker Jeremy Marshall-King for the rest of the season after he battled through a shoulder injury in the 24-16 loss to Brisbane.
The 27-year-old has been one of the Dolphins best players this year and an extended absence would be a cruel blow to the side's finals chances.
They have now lost four games in a row and will be four points outside the top eight at the end of round 18.
Marshall-King darted over to give the Dolphins a 16-14 lead in the 63rd minute on Saturday night and played the full 80 minutes at the Gabba.
Coach Bennett surprised the post-match press conference when he hinted at the seriousness of the injury.
Marshall-King injured an AC joint in the 26-12 win over St George Illawarra in round 13. He missed a week before playing half of the 58-18 loss to Manly in round 15.
His display against the Broncos was first class but he played under duress.
"He did (play well) but he's still got a bit of a shoulder problem so I don't know how long we'll have him back for," Bennett said.
"Looks like it might be a bit ongoing that one.
"He's a wonderful player and we probably had him at about 75 per cent tonight and we may have to go the rest of the season without him, I'm not sure."
Bennett was asked how serious the injury was.
"It's the same (shoulder). He's hurt it again," Bennett said.
"These things are about pain and what you can and what you can't handle, so we just have to wait and see."
Bennett switched star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to centre against the Broncos and played utility Kodi Nikorima at fullback.
It met with a measure of success with Nikorima scoring a try and running for 152m. Tabuai-Fidow was limited to just nine runs and 73m. He was solid but the Dolphins missed the higher level of involvement he offers at No.1.
"Hamiso is one of the best fullbacks in the game but we have a problem with our centres at the moment and we had to do something about it," Bennett said.
"He can handle that position and did a really good job there. Kodi is very competent at fullback and I don't think he let us down.
"He dropped one ball but that is par for the course when they play that position. It was our best option on the night and I think we did a pretty fair job."
