Melbourne hope to have Cameron Munster available for round two despite the superstar five-eighth likely to need surgery to fix a compound dislocation of the finger.
Munster fought his way through the Storm's 16-12 golden-point win over Parramatta in Thursday night's NRL season opener, after the bone in his right ring finger penetrated the skin.
The Australian Test five-eighth required two pain-killing injections as doctors put the bone back in place, before he recovered to set up a crucial try to level the scores late.
It's expected Munster will now need a clean out on the finger early in the week, but Melbourne believe it is still possible he could face Canterbury next Saturday at AAMI Park.
"We could be (without him) but, hopefully, he can have the operation early in the week," coach Craig Bellamy said.
"We have a bit of a longer turnaround.
"We got a message that at one stage he wasn't getting back out there ... He showed a lot of ticker to get back on."
AAP has since been told that if the surgery is contained to a minor clean out, it is possible that Munster could play next week.
Munster is one of many injury problems facing the Storm.
Winger Xavier Coates attempted to play on with a sternoclavicular joint injury between the collarbone and sternum, before he eventually succumbed.
It's now expected he too will spend some time on the sidelines.
The Storm had already entered the season with fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen out for at least six weeks, with Tui Kamikamica, Tariq Sims, George Jennings and Justin Olam among others injured.
"Xavier will probably miss a couple of weeks," Bellamy said.
"The SC is a new injury to me, but Xav played on for five minutes or so. It was a really gutsy performance by him."
Bellamy's men trailed 6-0 and 12-6 at different points in the game, before they fought back to remain undefeated in round-one matches since 2002.
The Storm's courage prompted Bellamy to claim they'd found the steel in their team again, after admitting it had gone missing last year as Melbourne were knocked out in the first week of the finals.
"It probably took me a little while to realise we'd lost that steel," Bellamy said.
"You just bobble along sticking to your system or routine. Then all of a sudden you think, we haven't played with that steel for a bit.
"When we get under pressure we're folding more than fighting. That's one thing we want to be better at this year.
"If they keep showing the fight they did tonight, I am sure we will be okay."
© AAP 2023