Luke Gale will miss a "big chunk" of the 2019 Super League season after Castleford Tigers confirmed he has suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The club revealed on Sunday that they suspected the 2017 Man of Steel, who underwent knee surgery following the 2018 campaign, had sustained an injury of that nature in a training session on Saturday.
And director of rugby Jon Wells confirmed the initial diagnosis on Tuesday, telling reporters: "Luke has unfortunately suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, we can confirm that now.
"He's with a specialist, the specialist will determine the extent of the injury, but for the those of you who have got any experience with Achilles injuries, it's a fairly serious injury for Luke.
"I think the first thing to say is that as a club [is that] we're pretty gutted for him. He's a key and influential member of our squad, a former Man of Steel, an England international. It goes without saying that he'll be sorely missed.
"It's likely to be a big chunk of the season, just how long we've yet to see. He's already provisionally booked in for surgery on Thursday.
"Just a freak incident towards the end of a training session, really nothing we could have foreseen but just one of those bad luck moments for Luke.
"He's already been in the second phase of his recovery after microfracture surgery on his knee, it's the same sort of headspace, it's just that the start date has been put back considerably for him.
"It's a big loss not just for Castleford Tigers, but for rugby league and Super League as a whole."
