Newcastle co-captain Jayden Brailey has been ruled out for the remainder of the NRL season after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and torn meniscus against the Warriors.
Also injured over the Easter weekend, North Queensland forward Griffin Neame is set to miss two months of football after fracturing the cricoid cartilage in his throat, the club have confirmed.
Brailey left the field following a tackle midway through the second half of Newcastle's 34-24 win on Sunday with what was initially thought to be a meniscus injury to his right knee.
Scans confirmed a graver prognosis for Brailey, who has not only torn his meniscus, but faces surgery on the same ACL he injured in 2020.
The Knights released a statement pledging to "continue to support our inspirational co-captain" in his recovery.
Brailey's knee problem is the latest in a string of injury blows for the improved Knights this season, with Kalyn Ponga, Tyson Frizell, Adam Elliott, Tyson Gamble, Kurt Mann and Simi Sasagi among the players to have spent time in the casualty ward through six rounds.
Mann and Phoenix Crossland are set to share Brailey's duties for this weekend's game against Penrith.
Utility Mann played hooker late in the 2020 season when Brailey went down with his previous ACL injury, while Crossland started there in round three after a concussion ruled out the co-captain.
"Having Tyson Gamble come back will allow Phoenix and Kurt to rotate through that No.9 spot. It will take two of them to cover Brails in the middle," Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien said after the Warriors game.
O'Brien also indicated Greg Marzhew and Dom Young would remain his first-choice wingers despite Hymel Hunt, who started in round one, recovering from injury in time for next Saturday's visit from the Panthers.
Ponga remains a week off returning from his latest concussion, so the Knights will need to name a replacement captain for the Penrith clash.
Former skipper and State of Origin prop Daniel Saifiti appears the strongest candidate.
Further north, the struggling Cowboys are trying to determine how Neame picked up his throat injury in the Good Friday loss to the Dolphins.
Neame played the game out and made himself available to media post-match but once he explained his symptoms to medical staff he was sent straight to hospital, where he remained for two nights.
Scans later revealed a fracture to Neame's cricoid, a ring of cartilage that encircles the trachea. The Cowboy was discharged from hospital on Sunday.
The injury is a tough setback for New Zealander Neame, who was looking forward to welcoming a host of family members to the club's away clash against the Warriors this weekend.
He joins Heilum Luki, James Tamou, Murray Taulagi and Gehamat Shibasaki in the Cowboys' casualty ward but State of Origin back-rower Jeremiah Nanai returns from suspension to bolster the side.
