Scans have revealed that Storm forward Christian Welch was originally given a misdiagnosis on an ACL injury, with Welch revealing on social media that he has suffered only meniscus damage.
Welch went down clutching his knee in the first half of Thursday's win over Wests Tigers, with the initial prognosis indicating that the 24-year-old's season was over.
The forward is set to spend 4-6 weeks on the sideline, but was still all smiles after receiving the "amazing news" his 2019 season and Origin hopes were not over.
After crying my eyes out all night Iโve just had the most amazing news. Misdiagnosed ACL tear only meniscus damage so will be back 4-6. In disbelief, just bought about 12 lotto tickets! Thanks to my friends, family and footy community for the support โค๏ธโค๏ธ pic.twitter.com/PSfhxXFwTU
— Christian Welch (@clwelch94) May 17, 2019
The injury will rule him out of making his Origin I debut, but still remains a strong chance to play in games two and three if he can return to his promising run of form.