Wests Tigers' centre Tommy Talau went down with an agonising knee injury on Sunday afternoon during the club's horrid loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The injury, which occurred in the middle of the first half, saw Talau remain on the ground before being assisted by trainers.
As he was on the far side of the field, play was ultimately stopped to allow Talau to not have to walk the entire way back to the dressing room.
It has now been revealed the club suspect the injury to be a fully ruptured ACL, which would rule the youngster out for anywhere between six and nine months.
Tommy Talau off with a R knee injury, unfortunately video does bring concern for an ACL injury. Non-contact planting for direction change + knee collapses in. Appears to be some laxity (looseness) w on field ACL testing too. Best hope for meniscus/bone bruise, fingers crossed pic.twitter.com/yvqQ17OEfi
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) September 5, 2021
The 2022 season is scheduled to start on the March 10, which is just five days past the six-month mark from the date of injury, essentially ensuring Talau will have no pre-season if the injury is confirmed, and in the best-case scenario, is still unlikely to be fit for Round 1.
There is also an outside chance of the season start date being brought forward due to the postponed Rugby League World Cup being played a week earlier than it was supposed to be this year. As it stands, the current date of the NRL grand final would be just 12 days before the opening matches of the World Cup in England.
Talau has been one of the bright lights for the Tigers this season, the centre scoring 11 tries in his 22 games, as well as assisting another two.
Only missing two games, he has also played more games than every Tiger bar Luke Brooks, Luciano Leilua, David Nofoaluma, Joe Ofahengaue and Alex Twal.
