But it could deal a mortal blow to Mr Blair's project to form a progressive anti-Conservative coalition at national level with the Liberal Democrats, and to portray the Scottish coalition as a shining precursor.
The timing of the injury is a real blow for the forward, who has been in impressive form and scored a hat-trick in England's 4-0 victory against Bulgaria at Wembley in the opening qualifier last Friday.
Their intention had always been to re-form under new ownership, but their plans were dealt a blow in September when the RFL rejected their application to join the Championship.