Karl Lawton suffers horrific leg injury in NRL debut

IT’S hard to imagine a worse way to end your NRL debut than being stretchered off after suffering a gruesome leg injury. WARNING: Graphic Images.

No one wants to leave the field on a stretcher, particularly not on their debut.

AS FAR as footballing injuries go, it doesn’t get much worse than this.

Just six minutes into the second half of the Gold Coast Titans’ clash with the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland, Karl Lawton’s NRL debut came to an abrupt halt.

The 20-year-old centre had darted from dummy half with the ball, cutting back in field before being tackled by Warriors reserve prop Bunty Afoa. As Lawton was dragged to ground, the youngster’s left leg became trapped under Afoa’s body.

Immediately it was clear that Lawton was in pain, as teammates recoiled at the realisation of what had happened.

See the incident in the video player above.

The Titans posted a tweet to say the debutant had suffered a dislocated ankle, however judging by the look of his stained sock, he may have also experienced a fracture.

Sorry, Lawton dislocated ankle. #NRLWarriorsTitans

— Gold Coast Titans (@GCTitans) July 2, 2016

Lawton was taken from the field on a medicab, as followers on Twitter expressed their shock and sympathy for the centre.

That's a really bad leg/ankle injury for Karl Lawton. I made the mistake of rewinding to see what happened. Poor bloke. On debut too. #NRL

— Travis Meyn (@travismeyn) July 2, 2016

Terrible to see such an horrific injury to anyone, let alone a debutant! I Hope poor Karl Lawton's recovery goes smoothly #NRLWarriorsTitans

— Zac Bailey (@ZacBaileyFOX) July 2, 2016

Oh my goodness just watched Karl Lawton's terrible leg injury/break against the Warriors. Absolutely awful. Poor guy. 😥

— Dominique Loudon (@dloudon9) July 2, 2016

Gutted for Karl Lawton getting that ankle injury on debut such a great young talent. #younggun #getwellsoonson

— Nate Myles (@nate_myles) July 2, 2016

Here’s hoping his recovery goes as smoothly as possible.

To add insult to injury, the Warriors ran away to a 27-18 victory in the second half.

With 14 minutes to go and the home side up by only two points, Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson received the ball 60 metres out and went on a weaving run to the tryline.

Second-rower Bodene Thompson added the Warriors’ fourth try before halfback Cameron Cullen got a late consolation for the visitors.

Johnson had the final say with a last-minute field goal.

The win was an important one for the Warriors, with both sides having come into the latest round sitting two points outside the top eight.

It allowed them to give back-rower Simon Mannering a fitting celebration for his 250th first-grade appearance.

Mannering stood in as captain, with regular skipper Ryan Hoffman struck down by a virus.

The Titans were forced into several injury-related changes, with co-captains William Zillman (foot) and Nathan Friend (hand), and up-and-coming half Ash Taylor (groin) among those withdrawn, not to mention Lawton.

Karl Lawton’s injury marred the match.

That left them down to 15, with interchange forward Ryan Simpkins having gone off just before halftime with concussion. The Titans made a spectacular start as former Kiwi Josh Hoffman, moved to fullback for Zillman, gathered a grubber on his own line and raced away for a try in the second minute.

Warriors centre Blake Ayshford replied with his own runaway effort after an intercept on his own 20m mark.

The Titans targeted the opposition’s right edge with their kicking game, and the tactic paid off when Nene Macdonald climbed high to pluck in a Tyrone Roberts cross-kick for a try.

But the Warriors again tied up the game, winger Tuimoala Lolohea dotting down in the corner to make the score 10-10 at halftime. Roberts and Issac Luke traded penalties to keep the match locked up.

Another Luke penalty put the Warriors ahead for the first time before Johnson scored what turned out to be the decisive try.

— with AAP