Star Southcity centre Cody Hodge will spend at least the next month on the sidelines after fracturing his elbow in the loss to Tumut on Sunday.
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Hodge did the damage in the early stages of the 44-28 loss at Harris Park, but tried to play on with the issue.
He made it to half-time before pulling the pin.
X-rays revealed a fracture in the elbow and the Country representative is waiting on more scans to reveal the full extent of the issue.
"It's still up in the air what's going on but there is a small break in my elbow," Hodge said.
"I need to get a MRI to see if there is any ligament damage but hopefully it is just that small break which should take about a month.
"I've got to go to the fracture clinic on Friday but I was pretty heartbroken when they told me."
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Hodge has been in brilliant form for the Bulls so far this season.
He scored a hat-trick in each of their first three wins before missing last week's victory over Young due to Country representative duties.
However he was dragged down after making a break in the opening minutes of the top-of-the-table clash against the Blues and struggled from then on.
"I got it strapped up and tried to have a run but just couldn't use it at all and couldn't bend it," Hodge said.
"Then I tried to make a few tackles and when they scored that last try on half-time I looked down and there was a big egg hanging off the side.
"I thought my elbow was dislocated but it was just the swelling so I pulled the pin at half-time or I could have done more damage."
Southcity struggled to deal with his departure.
The loss ended a perfect start to the season for the Bulls.
Captain-coach Nathan Rose is looking to regroup when they host Temora at Harris Park on Saturday.
Their error rate is one thing he's looking to address.
"The effort was still there and we were in the fight but we did the damage early by turning over cheap ball," Rose said.
"We need to work out where we weren't so good and look to clean that up coming into the game against Temora."
Tumut also made plenty of inroads through the middle with Lachlan Bristow outstanding for the Blues.
"He's a pretty crafty hooker and a lot of his line breaks came off the back of our errors and you can't do that against the good teams," Rose said.