AFTER a season in which he has been touted as a Penrith first grader for years to come, Dubbo's Isaah Yeo admits the news he will miss the chance to represent his country has come as a blow.
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Yeo reinjured an ankle ligament during the Panthers' dominant NSW Cup win on Sunday and the results will see him miss out on the chance to play in an NRL grand final curtain-raiser this weekend as well as the chance to wear the green and gold against the Kiwis in Auckland later this month.
"The injury came at a rubbish time of the year with the final and Australian under 20s but it didn't feel good when I did it and then the results said I'd done it again but a little bit worse this time so I've got to get more scans to find out if I need surgery," he said.
"It was bittersweet but in saying that this year has been really positive for me, you've just got to take the good with the bad, there's been guys who've been out all season with knee reconstructions so mine's just a torn ligament."
The former Dubbo CYMS junior will see a specialist tomorrow to discover if he will need surgery, which would rule him out of the early parts of the Panthers' pre-season.
He hopes the injury will not require him to go under the knife with the 19-year-old keen to not miss any of pre-season as he looks to build on a 2014 season which included two tries in 10 first grade matches for the Panthers.
The whole Panthers club has enjoyed a hugely successful 2014 and Yeo, along with the likes of Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Bryce Cartwright, has been tipped as future stars of the Penrith first grade side.
The NSW Cup win on Sunday was hugely impressive and made it two Penrith premierships in two years for Yeo after being part of the under-20s title winning side in 2013.
But Yeo has been quick to let his Penrith teammates know he had even more succes before that.
"I'm saying I've won three in a row, I'm counting the under-18s premiership I won with Dubbo CYMS as well, I've been mentioning that a bit and don't think the boys like hearing about it," he laughed, before speaking about Sunday's win over the Knights.
"It was good, a few things went my way but we played really well, the forwards did their job and the halves delegated things well
"I just played off that and obviously it was exciting to get the win."
Yeo will be in Sydney to see his Panthers teammates take on the Northern Pride in Sunday's State Championship, the curtain-raiser for the South Sydney-Canterbury NRL final before returning to Dubbo to enjoy his off-season.
