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'Best not look': NRL player's gruesome injury horrifies fans

andrew reid
·4-min read
Pictured right, the gruesome tongue injury Joel Thompson suffered against the Knights.
Joel Thompson suffered a shocking tongue injury against Newcastle. Pic: Getty/Instgram

Warning: Graphic images

Rugby League fans have been left horrified by shocking images of the injury Joel Thompson suffered in Manly's 26-24 loss to Newcastle on Sunday.

The Sea Eagles must now pull off the best late-season charge in the NRL era to make the top eight after their season slipped into further peril with the two-point loss to the Knights.

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Enari Tuala scored two tries for the Knights while Kalyn Ponga starred in the win, to move them one step closer to their first finals series since 2013.

The loss was a particularly hard one to stomach for Thompson, who had blood trickling down his face throughout the second half of the match.

It wasn't until after the match that the nature of the injury became clear, when teammate Curtis Sironen posted a gruesome photo of the tongue laceration on Instagram.

It’s not clear what caused the injury but it’s not expected to sideline the Manly second-rower.

Sironen captioned the image: “He’s tough the old bush goat," with the photo showing the 31-year-old's split tongue and blood around his mouth.

Fans were understandably queasy after seeing the shocking image on social media.

Defeat leaves Manly’s season on life support

Manly's two-point defeat leaves them needing to make one of the great late-season charges to make the finals.

Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler conceded his side were now walking a finals tightrope, after dropping four points out of the top eight with six rounds to play.

Since the end of the Super League war in 1997, no team has come from so far back in the final six rounds to play finals football.

And it's not only on the ladder where the Sea Eagles are struggling for numbers.

Fill-in fullback Brendan Elliott added to their injury woes on Sunday with a suspected ACL tear, while Trbojevic is still two weeks away.

"Equation wise I think there are still enough points," Hasler said.

"But in the past two weeks we have let four points go. We are making it very difficult.

"We are walking the tightrope now and we need to walk it well."

Seen here, Brendan Elliot suffered an ACL injury against the Knights.
Brendan Elliot suffered the latest serious injury for the Manly side. Pic: Getty

They face a crucial clash with South Sydney next week where a loss could mean curtains for their season.

Manly were dogged given the circumstances.

They started the game without props Martin Taupau and Addin Fonua Blake, while Cade Cust starred in the halves with injuries in both legs.

The Knights, meanwhile, were rewarded for fighting back time and time again.

They trailed 12-0 early, but dominated the ball with 71 per cent of possession and three tries in the 20 minutes before the break.

After Ponga and Mitchell Pearce combined for the Knights' first, Kurt Mann grabbed a try out of dummy-half to level the scores before Tuala crossed to give the hosts a 16-12 advantage at the main break.

When Hymel Hunt made it 20-12 just after the break, Newcastle looked in control.

Again the roller coaster set in.

Jack Gosiewki scored for Manly from a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber before Lachlan Croker was the beneficiary of Taniela Paseka and Sean Keppie's power in the middle.

But Newcastle wouldn't relent.

They were denied twice in the final 20 minutes, before Tualia landed the knockout blow when he beat Manly's defence from 20m out and eight minutes to play.

with AAP