Cronulla Sharks winger Sione Katoa has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair his pectoral muscle.
The club have confirmed it's expected he will miss 12 weeks, with no return this season possible. There are only seven weeks of the regular season remaining, with a possible four week extension to the finals series.
Katoa suffered the injury in the process of scoring a long-range try after a scrum during Friday night's win over the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.
He was immediately taken from the field in considerable pain and scans confirmed the injury on Tuesday.
Katoa, who has scored 14 tries in 16 games for the club this season, will now miss the finals campaign, with the Sharks well entrenched in the top four just seven weeks out from the end of the season.
In positive news however, Cronulla confirmed there were no other injuries across the club in their medical update on Tuesday.
Katoa isn't the first outside back to have his season ended by a pectoral muscle injury, with Reimis Smith spending plenty of time on the sideline. He was due to return for the Melbourne Storm just a few weeks ago, but re-aggravated the injury to end his season on the spot.
It's tipped that Cronulla will be able to replace Katoa with the returning Siosifa Talakai, who will force Connor Tracey from the centres to the wing. Matt Ikuvalu, who joined the club from the Sydney Roosters at the start of the season but has struggled for consistent first-grade minutes, could be the other option for rookie coach Craig Fitzgibbon.
The Sharks play the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs in what will be a difficult next fortnight of action.
