Wests Tigers head coach Benji Marshall has confirmed Kai Pearce-Paul has suffered a suspected pectoral muscle injury.
Pearce-Paul, who has been one of the Tigers' best this year after his off-season switch from the Newcastle Knights, was taken from the field early in what ended up being a win over the Gold Coast Titans in the final NRL game at Leichhardt until 2028.
A suspected pectoral muscle injury was the early call from Tigers medical staff, and while Marshall couldn't shed much light on it after the game, he labelled it "devastating."
“Devastating, we don't know (exactly what the injury is). I think it's a pec injury, just the severity of it, I'm unsure," Marshall said during his post-match press conference.
“Hopefully not too long, we'll get some scans, obviously.”
While the Tigers will be hopeful of a speedy return for the English second-rower, a pectoral injury that requires surgery generally comes attached with a 12-week recovery.
That ultimately means his season could be over unless the Tigers make the finals, with there being just 12 weeks remaining until the end of the regular season.
His match fitness will then be a question for the end of year Rugby League World Cup, where Pearce-Paul would have been a walk up selection for England ahead of the tournament to be played in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
More immediately, it's a horror blow for the Tigers who are also already without first-choice second-rower Samuela Fainu.
Brother Sione Fainu has been doing a strong job in his place, but it's now likely Benji Marshall could call Alex Seyfarth (who started at lock on Sunday), or Tony Sukkar, to start in his place. Mavrik Geyer has alsoi been around the top squad and could be another name in the mix for a starting role.
Pearce-Paul, in his 11 games prior to Sunday's win over the Titans, had four tries and 28 offloads to his name with enormous production at both ends of the park in a side who had turned a corner in the opening exchanges of the season.
The Tigers did lose their way with injuries crippling the joint-venture in recent weeks, but ultimately got back into the winner's circle against the Titans, breathing life back into their season which was fast heading towards being put on life support.
At the end of Round 15, the Tigers sit in tenth place on the NRL ladder with 7 wins from 13 games, but with 2 of their 3 byes already used, they will still likely need to win at least 6 of their last 11 to qualify for a first finals campaign in more than a decade.
