Widdop suffers knee ligament injury

Gareth Widdop faces a spell on the sidelines after injuring his knee ligaments in St George Illawarra’s defeat to Sydney Roosters this morning.

An exact time frame on the injury will be revealed after scans tomorrow but Widdop is certain to miss England’s match against Samoa in Campbelltown on May 6.

The stand-off was named as part of Wayne Bennett’s 20-man squad yesterday and it remains to be seen whether the England head coach will name a replacement.

St George were leading 6-0 when Widdop left the field just before half-time and the club provided a short statement following the match which they eventually lost 13-12.

“It looks like he’s suffered a moderate to high grade medial ligament injury in his knee,” Head of Athletic Performance Nathan Pickworth said.

“He’ll have scans on Wednesday which will determine the prognosis and return to play time frame.”