National Rugby League star Danny Levi will require surgery on the broken jaw he suffered just two minutes into Canberra Raiders' league match against Cronulla Sharks.
The hooker's head crashed into the shoulder of forward Teig Wilton and walked off the pitch with an official helping to stem his blood.
"He dropped into the tackle and a bit of footwork there from Teig Wilton and his shoulder collected Danny Levi right on the jaw," NRL star Greg Alexander told Fox League. "He didn't look good leaving the ground."
NRL pundit Cooper Cronk also commented about the horror tackle which left fans shocked.
"He looked at the touchline straight away as he came reeling out of the contest," Cronk added. "He looks in all sorts of trouble, Danny Levi."
Levi was immediately replaced by Tom Starling before officials were seen searching for his missing teeth during the half-time break.
Fox Sports commentator Warren Smith added: "We had NRL officials out there at the break looking for at least one tooth on the turf at GIO Stadium. They might be out there again at full-time if they didn’t locate it, looked to be the case that they came up empty.”
Corey Horsburgh scored a brace of tries for the Raiders while Albert Hopoate and Matthew Timoko scored the others in their home victory. The Sharks replied with four tries of their own, but the perfect kicking of Raiders' Jamal Fogarty proved decisive.
After their victory, the Raiders confirmed that Levi had broken his jaw in the horror challenge and would be out for an 'extended period'.
The club's statement said: "Canberra Raiders hooker Danny Levi will have surgery on a fractured jaw tomorrow and is expected to miss an extended period. We wish Danny all the best in his recovery and hope to see him back on the field soon."
Initial reports suggest that Levi could be out for between eight to 10 weeks and might be back in action for the second half of this season. Levi returned to the NRL this year after spending last season with the Huddersfield Giants - scoring four tries in 20 appearances.
