Knights centre Bradman Best booked for surgery after injuring thumb ligament in Newcastle's 40-28 loss to South Sydney.
Best was left out of Newcastle's 22-man match squad entirely on Tuesday before it was revealed late last night that he would require surgery later this week to repair a ligament in his right thumb.
It is another crushing blow for the 20-year-old centre, who only returned from a five-week injury layoff
against Souths on Friday, scoring a try in the 40-28 loss.
Best has had a string of injuries in recent years and missed four games after dislocating an elbow against the Broncos in May.
He
required surgery on his left thumb last year and
wore a boxing glove during the preseason in order to train.
He is expected to be out for at least a couple of weeks following surgery on Friday.
He is a huge out for the 12th-placed Knights who will be trying to keep their slim finals hopes alive with a win at Brookvale on Saturday.