The Manly Sea Eagles have confirmed that Tolutau Koula will require surgery to repair a knee injury.
Koula suffered the injury during Saturday evening's golden point victory over the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.
The club have now confirmed it to be an MCL injury on his knee, and he will need to have surgery on Tuesday evening ahead of commencing his rehabilitation.
The Sea Eagles, at this stage, are expecting Koula to miss six weeks on the run to the finals in what is a disastrous blow for the club.
The centre and fullback have been one of the shining lights in an inconsistent campaign to date for Manly, with the club needing a better-than-even finish likely to make the top eight, although the two points last weekend against the Cowboys will certainly help their cause.
The win leaves Manly sitting inside the top eight, but the middle of the table is a logjam. Their earlier draw this season against the New Zealand Warriors may mean they only need to win four of their final eight games to qualify for September action, but they may also yet need to win five.
That task without Koula has become infinitely tougher, with the club to clash with the Newcastle Knights, Gold Coast Titans, Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors, as well as having a bye, over the next six weeks, before Koula's return could be marked for Round 25 against the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
News Corp is reporting that the single-week experiment of Tom Trbojevic in the centres will also be brought to a close by Koula's injury, with the former New South Wales State of Origin player to be shuffled to fullback.
