Newcastle Knights five-eighth Jarrod Mullen has described scan results on his injured hamstring as 'shattering', but remains positive he'll get through the recovery process with the support of the Club and his teammates.
Mullen, who tore his hamstring in the Knights' Auckland Nines quarter-final loss against Brisbane on Sunday, is scheduled to see the surgeon this Monday after scans showed a possible hamstring avulsion.
The Knights' playmaker says he is devastated with the injury, but is fully focused on his rehabilitation and returning to the field as soon as possible.
"It's not good news," Mullen tells Knights TV.
"Obviously I was only hoping for a couple of weeks, but it looks like it has come back a bit worse than that.
"I've got to go down to Sydney and see the surgeon on Monday and he is going to go in and have a look and see if it needs repairing because you can't really tell on the scan.
"It's either partially torn off or fully torn off, so it's not good news.
"Obviously I've been training hard all off-season and to come up with this is pretty shattering actually. I'll just have to get into the rehab and get back on the field as quickly as possible."
Mullen says the Club has always been great with injured players, skipper Kurt Gidley for example, and he is expecting similar support from his teammates and coaching staff in the coming weeks.
"The way we've rallied around Gids and other players that have been injured in the past, it's pretty inspiring, so hopefully the boys can rally around me," he says.
"It's obviously not the best feeling at the moment, but hopefully I get in there and get it done and it isn't as bad as they think and I'm back sooner rather than later."
Mullen has no doubts the Club can cope in his absence, insisting there is great depth in the halves with the likes of Michael Dobson and Matt Minto.
"We've signed Michael Dobson from overseas and he played some great footy over there, so hopefully they can win a few games and when I come back the Club is still in a good position because we obviously want to make a charge towards the finals," he added.
"We think we can have a real shot at the title this year, so hopefully the team can battle on well without me."
The seriousness of Mullen's hamstring injury and therefore recovery time will be determined post consultation with the surgeon on Monday.
