St George Illawarra veteran Blake Lawrie has spent the past few days in hospital and was in such a serious state that was in need of an intravenous drip.
The NRL enforcer was taken to hospital on Monday after a cut on his knee became infected.
The infection became so bad and his condition became so concerning that he was placed on the intravenous drip.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
The 28-year-old’s NRL season is now well and truly over.
The Dragons face reigning premiers Penrith on Saturday and Lawrie had been named in the extended squad.
But he will obviously miss his team’s final game of the season at WIN Stadium ... and the Dragons prop won’t be alone.
Lawrie will watch the game from the sidelines along with six other starting players who are also unavailable due to injury.
It’s been a nightmare season for Dragons coach Shane Flanagan with his team sitting third bottom of the ladder and managing just eight wins from 23 games so far.
After the loss to Manly last week, they have been hit for 40 in each of their past two games and risk a sour end to a season where they once shaped as top-eight contenders.
Flanagan said last week that he wanted the team to go out on a high.
“We’ve got to go out next week playing Penrith — and who knows what team they put out — but go out with some respect,” Flanagan said.
If Penrith lose to St George Illawarra and the Sydney Roosters beat South Sydney, the Panthers will finish the season eighth on the ladder.
- With AAP
Stream free on
