MITCH Clark has revealed he will miss the opening month of the new season after undergoing wrist surgery.

The new recruit from Doncaster sustained the injury in training and is expected to remain sidelined for the first four rounds of the campaign.

It is a significant setback for the New Zealander, who was impressing in training prior to being struck down.

Clark said: “I injured my wrist in training at the beginning of December and have had an operation on it.

“I’ll hopefully be back in time for round four or thereabouts but it’s a three-month process after surgery.

“I obviously can’t do everything with the team at the moment, which isn’t great, but I can still run and do other things to keep my general fitness up.

“I just miss out on training with the team and all contact work that they do.

“I struggle with weights as well, so I’m limited in what I can do right now.

“I felt good before I got the injury and it’s a setback, but I’ll come back fitter and stronger.

“I’ll be available again from round four, but then it depends on how the team is playing and I’ll have to force my way back in.”

The former Junior Kiwi made 23 appearances for Doncaster in 2015, scoring three tries – including one against the Bulls at the Keepmoat Stadium in April.

Born in England when his father Trevor Clark was playing for Bradford Northern in the early Nineties, the forward grew up in New Zealand before signing for NRL giants Penrith Panthers.

Clark added: “Front row is probably my main position at the moment because I’m probably more effective playing in the middle.

“It doesn’t matter where Jimmy wants to play me, as long as I’m in the seventeen.

“But the competition is fierce and there are eight front-rowers, including myself, so when you get that opportunity you need to grab it with both hands and try and keep your spot.

“We’re obviously mates and we train alongside each other every day, but at the end we are competing for positions. I'm just looking forward to getting back out there.”