August 8, 2026 — 10:00amIsaah Yeo has been described as the “heartbeat” of the Penrith Panthers by Spencer Leniu, who won premierships alongside the lock forward – but will now try to heap more misery on his old mates on Thursday night.What was shaping as one of the NRL games of the year – and a potential grand final preview – between the Panthers and Sydney Roosters at CommBank Stadium has lost a superstar in Yeo because of a suspected pectoral injury.Isaah Yeo could be out for the remainder of the season for the Panthers.NRL ImageryYeo flew back to Sydney with his teammates on Saturday morning following the 28-12 loss to the Warriors at Go Media Stadium in Auckland where he lasted 33 minutes.The co-captain immediately winced in pain and grabbed at his right pec before he made his way from the field.Penrith coach Ivan Cleary confirmed after the game: “It doesn’t look great.”The 31-year-old is expected to undergo scans on Sunday, with the worst-case scenario to end Yeo’s season – and more than likely his dreams of captaining Australia to a World Cup win on home soil.Leniu was saddened to hear the Yeo news when informed in the sheds after the Roosters’ gritty 20-18 win over Canterbury on Friday night.“No way. That’s a massive loss – he’s the heartbeat of their team,” Leniu said.“Knowing Penrith, they’re a world-class team, and they’ll have that next-man-up mentality.“They’ve done it the last couple of years, they fill those voids when it comes around, and it will be no different next week if he’s out.“He’s the captain, and when a lot of experience like that goes off the field, you definitely notice it.“But Penrith are a well-oiled machine. With that next-man-up mentality, if you get the tap on the shoulder, you’ve got a duty to perform and wear the jersey with pride.“That’s been the Penrith Panthers the last few years. That’s why they’ve been such a great team.“They’ll still be pushing for that premiership at the end of the season. Next week will be another day in the office.”The Panthers won 40-4 against the Roosters in round three when Tom Jenkins raced in four tries. But the Roosters have won their past seven games, and are building momentum at the right time. They are also set to welcome back skipper James Tedesco from an ankle injury.“I’ve got a lot of confidence in this team, the boys inside the four walls have confidence in each other, it was a scrappy win [against the Dogs], but we got the win,” Leniu said.Naufahu Whyte has been a standout for the Roosters, and in Leniu’s opinion is on track to be crowned one of the Dally M props of the year.“He’s a no-nonsense player, he comes into training, if you ask him how he’s going, he’ll tell you, ‘same old, same old’,” Leniu said.“That’s who he is. He goes about his business, he doesn’t try to be anyone else but himself, and flourishes when he goes out there.”From our partners