Tuesday 9 April 2019 12:41, UK
Wigan Warriors winger Dom Manfredi has been ruled out for the season with a devastating knee injury.
The 25-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in Wigan's 38-28 loss to Castleford Tigers last Friday.
This follows a series of knee injuries which have disrupted Manfredi's return from his first anterior cruciate rupture suffered in 2016.
Speaking on the prolific winger, Wigan's executive director Kris Radlinski expressed his despair.
He said: "Dom visited a specialist yesterday who confirmed our worst fears and the injury that he sustained at Castleford Tigers would end his season.
"This is a devastating blow for Dom and the team."
Manfredi's first major knee injury also came at Castleford when he was on the wrong end of a Rangi Chase tackle.
That was during his standout season when he scored 15 tries in 25 games and went on to be named in the Super League Dream Team for the year despite picking up his injury in August.
Having missed the entire 2017 season, Manfredi made a dream return to action last year, scoring twice in Wigan's Grand Final win over Warrington in just his sixth game back.
Following that, the winger picked up another knee injury heading into this season and with another setback, Radlinski and the club are looking to help Manfredi on the road to recovery.
Radlkinski added: "Dom only returned from surgery on his other knee towards the end of last year and had the fairy-tale ending at Old Trafford.
"Now he faces the same journey of rehabilitation. Our focus is on helping him through this difficult time."