Mitchell Pearce is set to provide some welcome relief for injury-depleted Newcastle after Kalyn Ponga was ruled out for four weeks and Slade Griffin the remainder of the NRL season.
Scans on Sunday confirmed Ponga had suffered a grade one lateral hamstring strain during Saturday's loss to Canterbury, meaning he will miss the State of Origin dead rubber and the two Knights games that follow.
But the news was far worse for Griffin, who has suffered a fourth anterior cruciate ligament of his career at just age 27.
Having previously endured a horror run of injuries that at one point saw him go three years between NRL appearances, he could be sidelined for up to a year and is all but certain to miss the start of next season.
Griffin will undergo an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction which would include mending a ruptured lateral ligament and torn lateral meniscus after he ended Saturday night in hospital.
The Knights have warned he faces 9-12 months of recovery, a shattering blow just a week after making his New Zealand Test debut.
"I just know that it's probably not great. Where it's at, they're not 100 per cent sure," Brown said after the loss to the Bulldogs but before the results of scans were confirmed.
"It's not good. We've just crossed our fingers, take our club out of the equation, Slade's had a tough time throughout his career with his ACL, I just hope it's a good result."
On a positive note, the Knights hope to welcome back skipper Pearce against Parramatta after the bye.
Pearce has been on the sidelines since injuring his pectoral in round seven and is closing in on a return along with Daniel Saifiti (foot) and Nathan Ross (groin).
"We've had Pearcey out for a while. We've had a lot of pressure on Cogs (Jack Cogger) to do things which is a little unfair on him at this stage of his career," Brown said.
"Fortunately I think we'll get Pearcey back for the next game, which will help take a lot of pressure off Cogs and Connor (Watson) and them blokes and they'll be allowed a little bit more what suits them."
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