The North Queensland Cowboys may have suffered another disastrous injury blow before the beginning of the 2025 NRL season, with reports emerging that a key forward has sustained an ACL injury.
Following confirmation that Tom Chester will miss the entirety of next season after sustaining an ACL injury during training, reports have emerged that forward Heilum Luki suffered an ACL injury on Saturday at training and has become the latest player to join the club's injury list.
"North Queensland Toyota Cowboys second rower Heilum Luki suffered an ACL injury at training this morning," a statement from the Cowboys read.
"Luki will have surgery in the coming weeks and miss the 2025 season."
The news comes after Jason Taumalolo successfully underwent surgery in early December to repair the damage after suffering a Lisfranc injury during the 2024 Pacific Championships while playing for Tonga.
The club's most experienced player, the veteran forward is set to miss the first few games of next season.
โI don't know if his injury was handled well, at all. It was only diagnosed after the Championships, and once he had been in Townsville for over a week โ to only find out then was really disappointing,โ coach Todd Payten said on Friday.
โJase knew he was sore, and I still don't know how he played the way he did with that injury. He wasn't even strapped up. His toughness is unbelievable.
โIt's a shame because Jase has worked really hard to get his body right, I thought the back end of last season was really strong, and his form in the Pacific Championships was great.
โTo lose someone like him with his influence for us, it's really disappointing. It's important he gets himself right post-Christmas. He won't be out for an extended period, but he'll miss at least the first few games of the season.โ
