New scans revealed a stress fracture in his lower back and have forced the club to stall his rehabilitation efforts.
“For the long term future of Nathan, we had to make the decision,” coach Neil Craig said.
“So he won’t be back for at least eight weeks, which means he won’t play again until after the mid-season break, at the earliest.”
Bock’s back showed signs of a stress reaction last month but further scans revealed this had turned into a stress fracture.
“It wasn’t too bad when I first hurt it but every time I tried to get back into some training it kept getting sore,” Bock said. “It’s been a frustrating few weeks for me. But now we have more information about the injury we can plan to get it right.”
Key forward Ian Perrie had a scan on his damaged left knee on Monday afternoon and will know more about his immediate playing future on Tuesday morning.
