The Newcastle Knights will head into Saturday night's clash against the Brisbane Broncos without star forward David Klemmer.
Klemmer has been on a rollercoaster over the last fortnight, and his future at the club looks less than secure, however, on this occasion, the club have confirmed he has been ruled out by the re-aggravation of an old knee injury.
The star forward missed last week's game after being stood down for a single week by the club over an alleged on-field verbal altercation with a club trainer.
The move to stand him down came less than 24 hours after speculation had mounted on the final day of the transfer window that he would be shipped to the Parramatta Eels, who were on the lookout for a prop to close out the season.
The move never materialised however, and he would ultimately recommit to the Knights, where he is off-contract at the end of the 2023 season.
The club confirmed on Friday afternoon ahead of the official trimming to 19 24 hours before kick-off against the Broncos on Saturday evening that an MRI scan has cleared the forward of anything major, meaning he should be back on the park next week as the Knights try to escape the bottom four during the final three weeks of the season.
The Knights have confirmed that Sauaso Sue will join the bench for the game, taking the spot vacated by Jacob Saifiti who moves into the front row to start the game, which will be played at 7:35pm (AEST) on Saturday evening in Brisbane.
The Broncos have also confirmed a change for the game, with Brenko Lee to miss out with injury, replaced in the centres by Delouise Hoeter