In a pre-season bombshell, Canberra Raiders young gun Brad Morkos has walked away from the NRL.
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The 20-year-old decided he no longer wanted to pursue a career in rugby league and will return to his native Wollongong for personal reasons.
It's believed he might play with friends in the Wollongong local competition.
It's left the Green Machine with a vacant spot in their top 30, but they're not in a rush to fill it - having until midway through next year to replace Morkos.
Morkos informed the Raiders hierarchy of his decision at the start of the week, having taken part in the first few weeks of pre-season.
He played 40 NSW Cup games for Canberra since joining them from St George Illawarra, while he also played four Tests for Lebanon at last year's World Cup.
Morkos was one of a number of promising outside backs in the Raiders ranks, following in the footsteps of New Zealand international Matt Timoko and Sebastian Kris.
It's an area where the Green Machine has plenty of depth, with Albert Hopoate, Xavier Savage, Harley Smith-Shields and James Schiller all pressing to fill the centre and wing spots.
That could see the Raiders prefer to focus on bringing in a strike second-rower as captain Elliott Whitehead goes into the final season of his career.
Whitehead and the rest of Canberra's international stars were set to start pre-season training on December 11, with players like Hudson Young, who played in the Prime Minister's XIII side, resuming next week.