Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to miss rest of season in crushing blow to Titans, Maroons

Titans and Maroons enforcer Tino Fa’asuamaleaui will miss the rest of the NRL season after suffering a crushing injury blow.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui is out for the season. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Gold Coast Titans captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui will miss the remainder of the NRL season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee.

On Sunday the Titans confirmed scans had revealed Fa’asuamaleaui, 24, had ruptured his ACL in Saturday’s Round 3 clash against the Bulldogs.

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The club said in a statement: “In a devastating blow for the Gold Coast forward, he will now meet with medical staff to outline his rehabilitation.”

Fa’asuamaleaui was been sent for scans after leaving the field in the 62nd minute of Gold Coast’s 32-0 loss to the Bulldogs.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui is out for the season. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Speaking post-game, new Titans coach Des Hasler didn’t want to speculate on the nature of the injury.

“It’s definitely his knee,” Hasler said.

“That can range anywhere between his MCL and ACL.”

“Once we get confirmation around that through scans, we’ll know more … but it didn’t look good walking off.

“We won’t know until it’s confirmed, so we won’t worry about speculating.”

Tino is out for the season. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

It’s a devastating blow for the Titans, who have started the season 0-2 with heavy losses to the Bulldogs and Dragons.

The Titans have already been riddled by injuries to start the season, with fullback Jayden Campbell (patella) and David Fifita (torn pectoral) yet to play in the NRL.

Campbell is expected to return in the coming weeks, while Fifita is inching closer to playing after tearing his pec in December.

But the loss of Fa’asuamaleaui is a brutal one that could make it near impossible for the Titans to make finals in Hasler’s first year in charge.

The injury is also a huge blow for the Queensland Maroons as they chase a hat-trick of series wins this year.

Queensland had already lost Dolphins forward Tom Gilbert to an ACL injury.

Originally published as Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to miss rest of season in crushing blow to Titans, Maroons