The Wests Tigers have suffered a massive blow to the start of their 2026 NRL season, with playmaker Latu Fainu to miss the first few rounds of next year's campaign.
Forced from the field in the club's final match of the season against the Gold Coast with a shoulder injury, the 20-year-old will now undergo a full shoulder reconstruction.
Ruled out of the 2025 Pacific Championships for Tonga, he will also be unavailable for selection at the start of the 2026 season, just as he was when he first arrived at the club in 2024, when he missed the opening matches due to a hamstring injury.
The injury to Fainu means Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi will be the club's starting halves next season.
"Latu's unfortunately got to have a shoulder recon so he'll [miss the] early rounds of next year before he comes back," CEO Shane Richardson said on the Behind The Roar podcast.
"Other than that, we have no injury problems, which is a phenomenon. We probably have only seven players who will be tied up in the internationals.
"Only one of them in three, and that's probably KPP, but the rest are only one-offs, so we should be able to go into the December portfolio with all of our players back training towards that first fixture."
Yet to be used in his primary position (five-eighth), Fainu was handed the No. 7 jersey from Benji Marshall this year, scoring three tries and providing three try assists in 14 matches.
Fainu also forced two drop-outs, made five offloads and averaged 61 running metres per game, showing glimpses of his potential at times, which made him the highest-paid player under the age of 18 in rugby league history.
