Courageous Knights hooker Jayden Brailey's season is almost certainly over even if the NRL gets up and running again in 2020 after he suffered a serious knee injury in Sunday's 42-24 win over Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
Brailey will have immediate surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and faces a recovering period of between six to nine months.
Remarkably, Brailey picked up the injury late in the first half but played out the full game after having it strapped at halftime. One of Newcastle's best, he picked up maximum Dally M points for his performance, having a major hand in two Knights tries.
Scans on Monday revealed the extent of the damage.
Utility Connor Watson is likely to be Brailey's replacement when and if the competition resumes this season with rookie Chris Randall also now in the picture to make his NRL debut as some stage.
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