Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O'Brien confirmed five-eighth Tyson Gamble has suffered a broken hand.
Gamble failed to finish Sunday evening's thrilling golden point loss to the Cronulla Sharks, which was marred by a series of controversial calls.
The five-eighth was pictured heading to the dressing rooms before full-time shaking his head, and coach O'Brien revealed post-game that he had broken his hand.
The coach however revealed Gamble's season may not be over despite the injury.
"Yeah, he has broken his hand. He will be out next week anyway," O'Brien said during his post-match press conference, not committing to whether Gamble's season was over.
In a spot of better news for the men from the Hunter however, O'Brien confirmed centre Bradman Best and second-rower Dylan Lucas are close to returning, and could well play next weekend when Newcastle clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Homebush.
"Both guys [Bradman Best and Dylan Lucas] are pretty close [to returning]. They are a chance," O'Brien added.
The loss to the Sharks over the weekend leaves the Knights on 24 competition points, four behind the eighth-placed St George Illawarra Dragons.
Given an average for and against, the Knights need to win all three of their remaining games over the final weeks of the season and have other results go their way to have a chance of making the finals, with the game against South Sydney to be followed by matches at home against the Gold Coast Titans in Round 26, and the Dolphins in Round 27.