The Parramatta Eels have confirmed forward Kitione Kautoga has suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury.
The forward was substituted out of Parramatta’s loss to the Penrith Panthers shortly before halftime on Sunday afternoon after appearing to have been the recipient of a hip drop tackle from center Izack Tago.
The tackle at the time went both unpenalized and unreported.
Kautoga has now been confirmed by the Eels to be out for up to eight weeks, effectively ending his season on the spot.
The NRL has exactly eight weeks remaining in the regular season as of Round 20—when the Eels clash with the Canberra Raiders this weekend—so Kautoga would need the blue and gold to mount an unlikely finals campaign to return.
While the tackle from Tago, which caused the injury, went unpenalized and unreported, he has since been hit with a Grade 2 dangerous contact charge by the NRL‘s match review committee and will spend a week on the sidelines.
The Eels also have Mitchell Moses on the sidelines, with the halfback due back in the coming weeks, while forward Luca Moretti is aiming to return this weekend through the NSW Cup.
