Luckless Newcastle Knights have been rocked by another major injury blow with backrower Tyson Frizell facing surgery that has ruled him out of the State of Origin series and could sideline him for more than six weeks.
The Knights backrower suffered an ankle injury just four minutes from fulltime in his side's 18-10 win over Manly on Sunday, initially costing him a place in the NSW Blues side for Origin I in Townsville on June 9.
But scans on Monday revealed the full extent of the damage with Frizell booked in for syndesmosis surgery on Wednesday which usually take anywhere from between five to eight weeks to repair.
"It's just another significant injury setback for us to deal with," coach Adam O'Brien told the Newcastle Herald.
"He's having surgery tomorrow and hopefully, we can get him back on the field in around five weeks.
"It's obviously disappointing for the club but for Tyson in particular given when it happened late in the game. He was going to be in the NSW side for Origin so that's heart-breaking for him."
Cessnock junior Brodie Jones will come into the starting side on Sunday against Parramatta to fill the Frizell void.
