Leeds Rhinos could be without Harry Newman for up to six weeks after the club's worst fears over his hamstring injury were realised.
Newman suffered a recurrence of the injury he sustained in pre-season during last week's game against Wakefield Trinity, his first Super League appearance of the season.
It means the centre is now set for a prolonged absence of between four and six weeks, with Rhinos head coach Richard Agar insisting they will also have to be 'ultra-careful' over how they manage the injury moving forwards.
"He's had a recurrence of the hamstring injury," Agar lamented during his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's clash with Hull FC.
"There are further tests going on. It's disappointing because we couldn't have been much more careful with it. We gave him extra time to get miles in his legs but you saw the collision, he was going great until then.
"He brought loads of energy and thrust to our team. It's a major disappointment. We're looking at similar timeframes to last time, but obviously being ultra-careful too, even though from a medical perspective we couldn't have been any more careful. He was on about four to six weeks last time."
Agar insisted that Newman remained determined to overcome the latest setback that has marred his own start to the new season.
He said: "We'll get him the best care and attention, but he's very diligent and committed to getting himself right. We felt he was good to go and it was obvious from his first 40 minutes he was that, and he made a real difference to the team."
