Raiders forward Sia Soliola shares horrific X-ray as head clash could end season

Canberra Raiders forward Sia Soliola left the field with a facial fracture yesterday but his Instagram post has shown the nightmarish extent of the injury.

Sia Soliola scoring a try earlier in the season.

Canberra Raiders forward Sia Soliola is set for months on the sidelines after revealing the true extent of his facial fracture after a head clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

The Raiders hardman left the field for what was believed to be a head injury assessment (HIA) but the horrible truth was soon revealed as he was taken to hospital for facial fractures.

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While rumours swirled that it could be a broken jaw or cheekbone fracture, the man himself took to Instagram to share brutal injury with the fracture running across his face and likely requiring surgery.

Fellow footy stars were quick to support the Raiders star.

Cowboys forward John Asiata commented “speedy recovery uso” while Raiders hooker Siliva Havili replied “Love you uce #bettlejuice”.

He even got some cross-code love from Brumbies rugby star Christian Lealiifano who said “Hope your OK man. Speedy recovery. Still got your modelling career intact”.

Former league stars also shared their apologies with Willie Mason added “Damn Sia I didn’t know it was that bad! Speedy recovery Ignacio” while Daniel Conn “Thats hectic bro. Hope you OK” while several other stars wished the Raider a speedy recovery.

It adds to the Raiders injury woes with John Bateman and Corey Horsburgh still on the injured list.

“It’s a lot of middles we’re losing at the moment and it’s an issue,” Stuart said after the Raiders’ 22-16 win over the Dragons.

The NRL Physio on Twitter Brien Seeney said it’s usually 6-8 weeks but could be as much as three to four months depending on the surgery needed.

Unfortunately scans revealed a significant facial fracture for Sia Soliola, is now facing surgery. Fracture of this nature usually requires at least 6-8 weeks on the sideline but possibly much more depending on type of surgery required (worst case 3-4 months) pic.twitter.com/RELySfDnR5

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) July 4, 2020

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said he feared the injury could see the end of his season with the forward meeting a surgeon on Monday.

“It’s looking like it’s a three-month injury, so that looks like it could be the season for Sia,” he told ABC Grandstand.

Soliola also thanks everyone for their messages of support.