England Rugby League star Kai Pearce-Paul suffers gruesome ‘shark bite’-style injury 

England Rugby League star Kai Pearce-Paul has suffered a potentially season-ending leg injury described as looking like a “shark bite”.

The former Wigan Warriors forward has had a stellar first season in the NRL but his campaign could be over after picking up a gruesome injury this weekend against South Sydney Rabbitohs.

It’s unconfirmed if the Englishman will miss the remainder of the season but with just two games left the second-rower might not take the field again.

The Londoner left the field after just half an hour of action and was rushed to hospital to have surgery on the laceration on his shin per reports down under.

Initially, the extent of the injury was unclear but an image emerged online showing the horrific injury which Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O’Brien described as looking like a “shark bite”, seemingly sustained from a stray boot running down the length of his shin.

An image of the gruesome injury can be seen at the bottom of the article but reader discretion is advised.

Rugby League star suffers gruesome injury

The injury itself was described as a 15cm gash and an image was initially posted by the forward before later being deleted.

Teammate and captain Kalyn Ponga stated: “He got split, a stud cut him open.”

Head coach Adam O’Brien went further, adding: “I just saw a photo of it then and it nearly made me crook. It’s awful.

“It’s not like a soft tissue injury or a bone break or anything but it’s pretty big. It’s like a shark bite at the moment, it’s huge.”

Perhaps even more gruesome was Fox League’s Matt Russell’s description with the sideline reporter stating: “His leg flapped open like a hot dog bun.”

Kai Pearce Paul went to hospital for immediate surgery on an “awful” lower leg laceration – described as looking like a shark bite.

Knights suspect he caught a stray boot stud on his shin. Recovery can be quick if no major soft tissue damage, but still sounds like a nasty one.

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 24, 2024

There are hopes that it won’t be the last rugby league that Pearce-Paul plays in what has been an impressive debut season but that’s depending on how the surgery has gone and with just two games remaining, it’s still unclear.

Regardless, he should be available for England’s test matches against Samoa at the end of October and the start of November.

GRAPHIC WARNING