South Sydney Rabbitohs fringe first-grade forward Liam Knight's season is over after he suffered an ACL injury on the weekend playing in the NSW Cup.
Playing in horror conditions at Homebush on Saturday evening against the Parramatta Eels, Knight had started the game at lock for the men from Redfern as he looks to fight his way back into the first-grade set-up.
He would last just 11 minutes though before being caught in an awkward tackle as he pushed up the middle third of the ground.
The cannonball-style tackle appeared to show his leg buckle forwards after contact was made from Parramatta defender Solomone Naiduki.
The young gun has been slapped with a Grade 3 dangerous contact charge and faces a three-game ban.
Nasty tackle on Liam Knight resulting in a season ending ACL injury in NSW Cup (via @brentread_7). High force contact to outside of lower leg, causing knee to buckle in = textbook contact ACL injury mechanism (risk for MCL/meniscus damage too). Surgery & 6-9 months recovery ahead pic.twitter.com/iMTCKQuCWd
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) July 4, 2022
It has now been confirmed that the prop has an ACL injury, which will see him miss at least six, but potentially up to nine months, throwing plenty of doubt over whether he will be ready to go for the start of the 2023 season, but at the very least, likely excluding him from much of the pre-season.
Knight, who has made 71 NRL appearances, has played just 8 NRL games this season, all coming from the bench, with only two of those performances seeing him break the 40-minute barrier.
He hasn't been sighted in the NRL since Round 11, when the Rabbitohs fell in a shock loss to the Canberra Raiders. Knight's best game came in Round 6 against the Canterbury Bulldogs when he ran for 202 metres.
Knight's injury has been immediately followed by the acquisition of Daniel Suluka-Fifita, with the young Rooster making the immediate switch to Redfern having already signed with the club from the start of the 2023 season.
